The Choices We Make
by Lizlen
Summary: A college AU where the gang is all grown up and making decisions for their future. Chenry.
1. Chapter 1

Henry was walking around the table putting his hands through his hair with a goofy smile that wouldn't seem to leave his face.

"Henry, wipe that smile off of your face. It disgusts me." A tall girl with long blonde hair said. Henry rolled his eyes at his sister, Piper. She really hadn't changed ever since she was nine. She had somehow gotten ruder ever since she'd gone to high school this past year.

"Yeah, Henry, you should really calm down. It's just Charlotte." Jasper said looking at Henry like he was crazy even though he was the one wearing a handmade orange sweater with a smiling bucket on it. Henry glared at him in response.

"What do you mean it's _just_ Charlotte?! We haven't really seen her since Christmas, and she never has time to talk to us now that she's at Stanford University." Henry said pacing the dining room table looking at the front door every couple seconds unconsciously.

"Dude, what are you talking about? You guys text each other every single day, and you saw her last week."

"Yeah, but Charlotte's gonna be home all summer this time, so we can see her every single day. She gave up an internship in Europe for this, so yeah, it's a pretty big deal." Just as he finished, the front door opened and Charlotte walked in. Henry felt his heart go into overdrive as he saw her. She looked more beautiful than when he saw her last week if that was even possible. Her bright cocoa skin seemed to glow, and her dark brown curls were piled up in a bun on her head. She was wearing black yoga pants that hugged her muscular legs and a large purple shirt that hung off her shoulder with her large nerdy glasses.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" She said with a big smile. Jasper smiled and gave her a big bear hug lifting her off of the ground while Piper looked up quickly from her pear-phone to smile and give Charlotte a wave. Jasper quickly let go of Charlotte.

"So Char, how's Stan.." Jasper started before being pushed out of the way by Henry. Henry picked Charlotte up and spun her around completely focused on her. Charlotte laughed, and it sounded like music to Henry's ears. _God, I missed her so much._ Henry thought to himself.

"Come on Hen, put me down."

"Nope, it's never gonna happen. I missed you too much. You're never leaving Swellview again." Charlotte blushed and smacked at his hard chest. Henry laughed; his cheeks hurt from smiling so hard.

"That tickles." Henry said leaning in closer towards Charlotte where they were practically nose to nose.

"Did you guys get together, and I missed it?" Piper said finally putting her cellphone away and staring at the two effectively breaking them from their spell. Henry gently placed Charlotte on the ground and straightened his gray and blue plaid shirt.

"I mean they were together in middle school, but they broke up because Charlotte has mouth sores." Jasper chimed in.

"What are you talking about? Henry and I have never been together, but more importantly, I don't have mouth sores!" Charlotte said glaring at him.

"Well then, why did Henry take you to the mouth doctor?" Jasper said looking slightly angry. Henry looked at Jasper skeptically before the memory washed over him. He moved over towards Charlotte to the point where their arms were touching.

"Oh yeahhh, Char, he's talking about that time we pretended to date." Charlotte looked confused for a second before she also remembered. Jasper looked heart broken.

"Wait, you guys never dated? You've never kissed?! Chenry is dead?!"

"No, we never dated or kissed, Jasper. What is Chenry?" Charlotte asked looking confused. Jasper picked up the glass bowl full of gummy bears on the table and spilled it on himself, screamed, and ran out of the door. Charlotte, Piper, and Henry watched him go before shrugging. Jasper had never really mellowed out.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry and tired." Charlotte said falling back on the coach to sit next to Piper who had started texting her friends on her phone again. Henry smiled as Charlotte's still small body sunk into the coach a little. Her height had maxed out at about 5'2 making her the shortest of their whole group. Although she was short, she still managed to boss and lecture everyone with her strong presence.

"Do you want me to get your suitcases out of your car and put it upstairs in the guest room?" Henry offered while leaning over her and taking her car keys out of her hand before awaiting her response.

"Wait, I want to go to Inside Out Burger! I've been craving their Chili Cheeseburger the whole drive from Stanford to your house." Charlotte said eyes lighting up in a way that Henry had really missed since she'd left for college last year. He pulled her off of the couch, and she fell into his chest to look up and glare at him. Henry just chuckled.

"Come on, I'll drive. We'll get you that burger with no pickles just like you like." Henry said wrapping his arm around her shoulder and enjoying the warm tingly feeling he got as a result. He always felt so much happier when Charlotte was around. Charlotte was his voice of reason, his best friend, and the love of his life, but he would never tell her that. There was a part of him that died and ached for her presence when she wasn't around. Even Ray commented that he lacked a certain charm without Charlotte around. Henry opened the passenger side to Charlotte's car which was covered in loose papers, textbooks, and empty cans of Red Bull. Henry glared at Charlotte.

"Char, what have I said about you drinking Red Bull?" Charlotte threw all of the stuff to the backseat before mumbling quietly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that."

"You said it's bad for me, and that'll it'll kill me. But Henry, it was only two cans… today." Charlotte said looking to the side knowing Henry would be upset at her for not taking care of herself. Normally, she would think it was adorable how protective he was of her, but now that she was in trouble, it wasn't that cute. Henry glared at her before walking over to the driver's side of her gray Nissan Altima.

"We'll talk about this later. I won't lecture you on your caffeine addiction today because I'm so happy to see you." Henry said before starting the car and waiting for Charlotte to get in. Charlotte let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. _Thank God he didn't ask how many I had this week._ She thought to herself before climbing in her car.

After they had gotten their chili cheeseburgers, they got back into Charlotte's car. Charlotte quickly took the burger out of the box and took a large bite, chili spilling down her chin as she moaned. She threw her head back and closed her eyes. Henry stared at her with his mouth open his mind getting murky before he cleared his throat and looked away.

"So, uh, Charlotte, h-how were finals?" He said starting the car and driving out of the parking lot.

"They actually went pretty well. I met this Sophomore named Taylor, and he was amazing. He had the best study techniques since he took most of my classes last year, and I think I aced my Political Science final. I should send him a picture of my burger. He's the one that reminded me of them. He's actually from Swellview too, and he loves Inside Out Burger." Charlotte said in between mouthfuls of burger. Henry felt his heart drop into his stomach. _Who the hell is Taylor?!_ He barely managed to stop himself from swerving on the road. His grip on the steering wheel tightened significantly, and he started to grind his teeth.

"Hen, are you okay? You look mad. Is this about the Red Bull? Because if you're really this mad, I'll switch back to coffee." Charlotte said her eyebrows crinkling in concern and her brown eyes staring right at him. Henry could feel his heart pick up and his cheeks redden. _Why is she so beautiful even when she's not trying? I can't believe that some idiot named Taylor got to look at_ _ **my**_ _Charlotte._

"No, I'm not mad. I'm just surprised that you think that you would ever fail an exam. I mean you're Charlotte Bolton. You invented the Scream Machine and found out I was Kid Danger in like less than a month." Henry said smiling at her before looking back to the road. Charlotte blushed.

"You're so sweet, but Stanford is really kicking my butt. I barely have over a 3.5 GPA, but enough about me, how's Swellview's favorite sidekick turned superhero?" Charlotte asked him happily waiting for tales of crazy villain schemes. She always made sure to watch Swellview's news feed to make sure that her friends and family were safe, but no one told the story better than Henry did.

"Well, I mean nothing has happened since I last called you, but Ray's talking to me about retiring his position as Captain Man and moving to Hawaii. He says that I should turn Kid Danger into Mr. Danger." Henry said. Ever since Henry had gotten his superpowers, Ray had sent him out on more missions by himself, but now, it was mostly just Kid Danger instead of Captain Man and Kid Danger. Henry had been waiting to talk to Charlotte about it before he told Ray whether or not he would take over the job and the store.

"Really?! Henry, that's amazing! Is he going to give you the store too?" Charlotte asked looking excited. Henry nodded.

"You don't think that I should focus on my studies instead? I mean what are my parents gonna say?" Charlotte laughed and poked him.

"Henry half of what you do is online already, and even if you did quit school, I think your parents would be okay with you quitting if you own your own business. You're an amazing superhero, Henry. You're even better than Ray, but don't tell him I said that. This town needs you." Charlotte said resting her hand on Henry's shoulder and squeezing before smiling at him. Henry felt his heart melt in her hand. Watching her out of the corner of his eye, he felt his love for her multiply. After a few minutes of comfort silence and munching, Henry drove into his driveway and turned off the car. Henry and Charlotte both got out of their seats and slammed the doors shut.

"I'll grab your bags from the trunk." Henry said while unlocking her trunk and grabbing her three suitcases with ease. Charlotte couldn't help but to stare in awe as he lifted her suitcases out of the trunk and easily carried them into the house.

"You comin' Char?" Henry said from his front door. Charlotte shook the thoughts of Henry's muscles out of her head as she jogged up to the front door and stepped in the house to find Piper in the living room not looking like she had moved an inch since they left and Henry moving her suitcases to the guest room upstairs. She followed after him stopping to step into Henry's room which was uncharacteristically clean with no hoodies on the floor or shoes randomly discarded. She flopped on Henry's twin bed face first and sniffed his sheets. They smelt like Henry, and he always felt more like home to Charlotte than anything else. The smell of vanilla, men's soap, pine, and something uniquely Henry somehow mingled together into an intoxicating scent that Charlotte couldn't get enough of. As Henry walked into his room, he laughed as he heard Charlotte take a big whiff of his constellation sheets.

"Are you smelling my sheets, Char?" Henry said while lying next to her on the bed. The bed was obviously too small for the both of them, so their bodies were mushed together.

"Ugh, get off of the bed. You're ruining the scent. You smell like Inside Out Burger." Charlotte said attempting to push him off, but it just amused Henry instead.

"So you _were_ smelling my sheets? It's my bed, so we're just going to have to share. Scoot over." Charlotte groaned before complying. Henry started talking to her, but she was having trouble listening. The drive over was _so_ long, and the bed was _so_ soft, and Henry was _so_ warm. She felt her head move to his chest and her arm wrap around his waist, and some part of her realized that she wasn't supposed to be cuddling with her best friend, but she was so tired she didn't care. Now that she was even more comfortable, she easily fell asleep.

Henry couldn't stop smiling even though he'd been smiling for like an hour straight. He was cuddling with the love of his life. He was forcing himself to stay awake to remember the way that she felt on his chest and the way her body fit perfectly curled up in his arms, but he felt his mind drift off. He hadn't slept well the past week having to take care of petty teenagers trying to vandalize the high school, so despite his mental protests, he fell asleep in Charlotte's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep. Beep. Beep._ Charlotte groaned. Why did her alarm have to interrupt what was honestly the best sleep of Charlotte's life? She was warm but not too warm, and she oddly felt safe and comforted. She swore that she turned off her alarm earlier that week, so why was it going off? She sleepily attempted to roll over to grab her phone, but she found that she couldn't move. At first, she panicked, her over active mind going through the worst possible things as she quickly opened her eyes. As she did, she saw that she wasn't sleeping on a pillow like she originally thought, but she was laying on a hard chest covered by a gray and blue plaid shirt. Heat rushed to Charlotte's cheeks as she realized whose chest she was lying on. She would know this chest anywhere. It was the one that she secretly pretended that she was sleeping on every night. Her blush deepened as the memory of falling asleep on Henry's chest washed over her like a tidal wave. She looked up at him from her positon on his chest to see him sleeping soundly. His face was the most relaxed that she had ever seen it. He almost looked angelic besides his mouth that was slightly open. She looked down at their entangled bodies. Somehow, their legs had intertwined together, her arms were wrapped around his chest, his arms were wrapped around her middle, and Henry had her in tight hold as if trying to keep her from leaving. She smiled wishing that she could wake up like this _every_ day, and then she heard that insufferable noise once again.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._ She had somehow forgotten about it, but once she heard it, she realized that it was pretty familiar. It sounded exactly like… Henry's watch. As the thought occurred, Charlotte gasped. That _was_ Henry's watch, and it was a triple beep which meant that there was an emergency in Swellview. Knowing Ray, he probably wasn't paying attention, so Henry was the only one that could actually help. Charlotte panicked and sat up a little bit. She started shaking Henry in a vain attempt to wake him up, so he could go deal with the emergency. He just smiled in his sleep and pulled her closer against him which Charlotte thought was kind of adorable, but she didn't have time to admire him there could be lives at stake! Charlotte muttered an apology to the sleeping Henry before slapping his cheek knowing that the pain would wake him up quickly. His awoke with a start; his arms loosening around Charlotte's middle to clutch his reddened cheek. In that moment, he looked a lot like a goldfish with his brown eyes bugging out of his head, his mouth slightly open, his golden hair stuck up on the sides, and an expression that was both hurt and shocked. Charlotte would have commented on how comical he looked, but she was interrupted by an incredulous Henry.

"Did you just… _slap_ me?!" Henry said. Charlotte ignored the question and jumped out of Henry's bed.

"Come on. There's an emergency! You have to leave!" Charlotte urged him grabbing his hand and pulling him off the messy bed. Henry looked at Charlotte not yet awake before the reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. He immediately rushed to his window, climbed down the tree in his backyard, and ran down the street towards Junk–N–Stuff with Charlotte following close behind. Charlotte sprinted at top speed, but she managed to lag behind Henry who seemed to be running as fast as lightning. Charlotte swore that his super powers made him run like an Olympic champion as she quickly lost sight of Henry.

After a few minutes of sprinting, Charlotte ran up to the entrance of Junk-N-Stuff which was currently closed as it was later in the evening. Charlotte looked for her keys in her pocket before cursing as she realized that she left them at Henry's house. She banged on the door hoping that either Henry was close enough to hear, or Ray was upstairs. Lucky for her, Ray or rather Captain Man as he was fully dressed in his disguise, was upstairs. He opened the door quickly ushering her inside and looking around the street to make sure that no one saw their exchange.

"Charlotte! What are you doing here?" Ray said closing the door and locking it before smiling at her.

"Yeah, I just got in today. I'm surprised Henry didn't tell you. I swear he told everyone." Charlotte said rolling her eyes a little bit before giving Ray a hug.

"Ohhh, yeah! He did say something about you coming back I think, but I don't always listen to him when he starts talking about you. He babbles on and on _all the time_." Ray said as they walked towards the back elevator. Charlotte blushed as the intensity of his words really set in. _Henry talks about me all the time when I'm not here?_ Charlotte thought to herself as she prepared for the long drop down to the Man Cave, flattered. She talked about him all the time too. Her friends at Stanford were convinced that Henry was Charlotte's boyfriend, but she always protested telling them they were just friends. Henry didn't think of her that way. She brushed the thoughts out of her mind. There were more important things going on. She didn't have time to overthink what Ray said, and wonder if Henry felt the same way about her that she felt about him.

"What was the emergency? Was it really serious?" Charlotte asked before pressing the down button on the elevator. The drop was steep, and Charlotte had to restrain herself from barfing up the chili cheeseburger that she had had hours earlier. Ray looked completely unaffected, and he answered her question succinctly.

"It was pretty serious. There was a robbery with two hostages. Henry went to go take care of it. I was writing down some new ideas for our podcast: _Deep in the Man Cave_ , and I didn't see the crime alarm. I decided to meet him there, but then I saw you." Ray said as the elevators opened up. Ray and Charlotte both walked out quickly. Charlotte walked over to her spot at the computer, and Ray got in the tube to go help Henry. Charlotte immediately pulled up the news feed on the computer.

"We're just getting news from police on the scene, that Kid Danger just arrived at the bank. The bank robbers do not seem to be responding to any of the local police threats, and they have yet to ask for ransom. Apparently, there was a gun shot heard from outside the bank." The brunette male reporter said with a grim look on his face holding on to his ear piece. Charlotte bounced one of her legs in anxiety as she heard the news. This was the terrible thing about being back home in Swellview. She had to sit around and wait to see that Henry and Ray were okay.

"Please let Henry be okay…" Charlotte said hoping that Henry would take care of this quickly and come back to her safely. After what felt like an eternity but in reality was only a few minutes, the news reporter finally said that everyone seemed to be okay.

"According to our witness on the scene, Kid Danger is bringing a limping hostage outside while Captain Man brings the other to the EMT. The police are apprehending the two robbers." A bright smile erupted on Charlotte's face, and she sighed heavily in relief. _Henry was okay_. She continued to watch the news as they moved to show an interview of Kid Danger and Captain Man.

"Kid Danger, what exactly happened in there? How did one of the hostages get hurt?" A tall dark skinned reporter asked shoving a microphone in Henry's face. Henry pushed the microphone back a little bit before looking at the reporter and recapping what happened.

"Well, when I arrived at the bank, the two robbers didn't seem to be taking anything, just seemed to be waiting. The hostage who got shot tried to fight back and escape, but one of the robbers saw him. Unfortunately, before I could get there, the robber shot him in the foot. I then apprehended one of the perpetrators and got the bleeding hostage some medical help." Kid Danger said extremely seriously. The reporter nods before looking to Captain Man who was standing next to Henry.

"Captain Man, when did you arrive, and what was your take on this situation?" Captain Man leaned forward before giving his signature smile.

"Well, the hero _always_ arrives late, so needless to say, I was a little bit late. When I arrived, Kid Danger was fighting off the criminal with the gun, so I decided to take out the other one. After a few minutes, both of the criminals were unconscious, and we took the hostages outside to make sure that they were okay." The reporter smiled then looked back at the camera.

"Well, there you have it. It looks like we have Kid Danger and Captain Man to thank once again for keeping our citizens safe." The dark haired reporter said dramatically. Then, the image on the news feed screen went back to the two reporters at the studio.

"Thank you, Ruby. Now, in other news, the school board has voted on whether or not it should allow individual merit awards at elementary school graduation." The reporter said, but Charlotte lost interest. She turned off the news feed and started scrolling through pictures of the crime scene. Something about this robbery didn't make sense to Charlotte. The robbers shot someone in the leg without hesitation for just trying to leave, but they didn't take anything? Even Jeff, the stupidest criminal alive was always trying to get something. _If the two criminals weren't trying to get anything from the bank, what did they want?_ Charlotte thought just as Henry and Ray came down the twin tubes.

Henry looked somewhat tired and frustrated as he came down the tube, but his expression softened as he saw Charlotte sitting in the computer chair. He had missed the little things while she was gone. Her being there right after he fought crime was one of them. As he walked out of the tube, Charlotte walked over to him and gave him a tight hug. He hugged her back instinctively. Even though he had been gone for less than an hour, he had missed her. He was thinking about how nice she felt in his arms when he felt her body tremble slightly.

"I was really worried about you…" Charlotte whispered. Henry felt his heart break and a frown break out on his face, and he hugged her just a little bit tighter. It hurt him when Charlotte was upset.

"I was really worried about _you_ … after you slapped me. What was that about?" Henry said trying to lighten the mood a little bit. He felt her body shake again, but this time it was accompanied by a small giggle. Henry smiled in relief as he heard her cute laugh. He understood why she was so worried, as he was fully aware of the fact that he could have been shot by one of those robbers tonight. Just thinking about it, made Henry pull Charlotte as close to him as possible. If he could, he would spend the rest of his life like this, holding his best friends in his arms.

"Well, I tried shaking you, but you sleep like the dead." Henry snorted at her comment.

"So your solution was to slap me awake? I was sleeping so _good_ …" Henry groaned. His soft lips brushed over her ear as he groaned causing shivers to travel down Charlotte's spine. She blushed a whole new shade of red and pushed herself away from him. If she stayed too close to Henry, her brain would cease to function, and she needed to focus and ask him about the 'robbery.' Henry was slightly disappointed when she pulled away, but he reluctantly let go.

"I watched your interview on the news. The robbers really didn't try to steal anything?" Charlotte said walking back towards the computer to go back to analyzing photos. As Henry followed behind her towards the computer, he agreed, affirming what Charlotte already knew.

Ray stood next to the tube watching the pair. He honestly didn't know why they weren't together. They were obviously in love with each other, and they practically did everything together when they were both around. It wasn't exactly uncommon for them to ignore everyone else in the room to pay attention to each other. As they were doing this to him at this _ **exact**_ moment. Ray pulled a gumball out of his pocket and headed towards the showers knowing they wouldn't notice that he had left, and they didn't as they were too engrossed on the computer screen to pay attention.

"I just don't get why they would rob something without _actually_ robbing anything, you know?" Charlotte said trying to put a hand through her curly hair and remembering she put it into a bun. Henry watched her and chuckled. He leaned over her chair using her head as a chin rest to look at the computer screen.

"The thing is… This isn't the first time that we've had a crime like this. In fact, the robbers today looked pretty similar to the robbers that I encountered a few weeks ago. They were wearing similar outfits, and they both had this weird marking on their face." Henry said before guiding her hand that controlled the computer to find a close up photograph of a one of the robbers. The robber was a regular looking man with a simple suit and tie, but he had on a ski mask and dark shades. There was a picture of the middle age culprit without the ski mask, and he had a large purple snake insignia above his eyebrow. Strangely, the guy's eyes seemed to glow a faint purple where they were supposed to be white in the photo. Charlotte grimaced.

"Is that seriously what his eyes looked like?" Charlotte asked both grossed out and intrigued.

"Yeah, it is. The other guy had purple eyes too. The fight was really _off_ too." Henry said using her hand again to do a quick search online for a criminal he caught two weeks ago. Charlotte blushed as he almost intertwined their fingers while he was doing the search. Henry brought her back to reality as he told her about a previous criminal.

"The guy wasn't even fighting. He didn't try to shoot me or anything. He dropped his gun, pushed me, and then he just stopped. The other guy stopped too. The same thing happened to me the week before finals, but I don't know if they have the same purple eyes." Charlotte scrunched her eyebrows.

"Do you think that someone could be plotting something?" Charlotte asked worried. Things just didn't add up. There was something going on here, and she hoped that she could figure it out before something bad happened. She couldn't let anything happen to Henry. She loved him, and she didn't know what she would do if he ever got seriously hurt.

* * *

 **Author's Note** :

Before I forget, I have some preliminaries! First, I would like to thank wstrnplsr105 for everything they've done to help me with my story. Not only did they give me the inspiration to write and the encouragement to post, but they've really helped me through the whole process. Thank you so much! I owe you a lot! Also, I would like to thank you guys who reviewed, followed, and faved! It made my day getting the emails and reading the comments! Please post more! I love to read what you think! (I love constructive criticism, so if you hate it, please let me know!) I'm super sorry that this look so long, but I wanted to make it as perfect as possible! Chapter Three is in the works right now! Have a super amazing day, and a happy holiday!

*There's a Naruto reference in my story, so if you got it, I love you!*

\- Lizlen


	3. Chapter 3

Charlotte was almost convinced that Henry had an extra superpower because he always seemed to be able to sense when she was upset or distressed. He was always making her feel better in a way that only Henry seemed able to do. After Charlotte voiced her fear, Henry took his head off of her chin and intertwined their fingers together.

"I doubt that someone in this town is actually plotting something. We don't exactly have top notch villains, but even if they are plotting something, I'll be fine, Char. We can look at this later. Let's go get some ice cream. It's been a long day." Henry said using their intertwined hands to twirl Charlotte around in the chair where she was facing him. Charlotte smiled softly up at him, her eyes shining with adoration. Henry held his breath as she stared intensely at him. Her eyes were a breath taking dark brown that seemed to shine when the light hit them. _She'll be the death of me._ Henry thought to himself as he got a strong urge to lean down and kiss her. He quickly looked away to avoid staring at her luscious lips. Charlotte couldn't find out that he was in love with her. She obviously, didn't feel the same way, and if he ever told her, things would get awkward between them. He couldn't imagine a life where he didn't get to talk to Charlotte every day. So, no matter how almost every fiber in his being ached to kiss her, he couldn't. The thought sobered Henry up, and he let go of her hand and plastered a fake smile on his face.

Charlotte's hand suddenly felt cold as Henry let go of it, and the disappointment she felt was almost palpable. She pushed it aside and got out of the computer chair.

"Ice cream sound really good. The place near your house, right?" Charlotte said walking towards the elevator.

"It's the only place to go. They have the best ice cream." Henry said following her to the elevator. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, I think that their ice cream is okay. The ice cream parlor near the clock tower is a lot better." Charlotte said pushing the up button. Henry looked at her obviously offended.

"Charlotte, their vanilla ice cream isn't good. How do you not have good vanilla ice cream? That's like the most basic requirement for owning an ice cream shop." Henry said getting inside the elevator.

"That's because all you eat is vanilla ice cream. _If you would try another flavor_ , maybe you would know why their ice cream is better. They have better mix-ins anyway." Charlotte said looking at him pointedly as she also got into the elevator. Henry crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Why do you always get to be right? Can't you ever say I'm right for once?" Henry said as the elevator rode up quickly.

"Because you're always wrong, that's why." Charlotte said laughing as Henry pouted to himself. Charlotte looked at him before sighing.

"Fine. You're right about their vanilla ice cream. It's not as good as the one near your house." Charlotte said looking away, so she wouldn't have to see Henry's face light up.

"HA! So, you do admit that the ice cream parlor near my house is better!" Henry said smiling and pointing at Charlotte who was turned away from him. Charlotte huffed.

"That's not really what I said…" Charlotte said getting off the elevator with Henry. They continued to bicker as they walked through the front door of Junk-N-Stuff. They walked in sync towards the ice cream parlor a few streets away. As they were approaching the ice cream parlor, a little boy ran up to Henry with eyes as big as saucers.

"Kid Danger! Can I take a picture with you?!" The child asked holding up a green pear phone. Henry felt his stomach drop as he realized that he was still in his uniform, and he was walking around with Charlotte. Charlotte was just as shocked. The boy looked up at him expectantly.

"Uh, sure! Here, citizen I don't know, can you take a picture for us?" Henry said handing Charlotte the phone. She quickly nodded and took the phone. Henry kneeled down and put his arm around the ecstatic little boy. Charlotte quickly took the picture and handed him his phone back. The boy squealed and ran away clutching his phone like it was made of gold. Charlotte looked at Henry or Kid Danger really, before stuttering an excuse.

"Well, thank you for answering my questions, _Kid Danger_. I'm sure that the Stanford newspaper will love to publish this." She said sticking her hand out for Henry to shake. Henry quickly picked up on her ruse and shook her hand firmly.

"No problem. I'm happy to help any citizen. I have to go, Ms…?" Henry said pretending to forget Charlotte's name. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Charlotte. Yeah, I have to head home as well. My friend is waiting for me with strawberry ice cream on a waffle cone." Charlotte said smirking slightly before walking in the direction of Henry's house. Henry could have kicked himself. How could he have forgotten that he was still in his Kid Danger uniform? Now, someone could find out who Kid Danger really is, and his friends and family could be in danger. He needed to be more careful now and make sure that no one could track Kid Danger to Henry Hart. Henry looked around quickly before jumping behind a tall bush near the sidewalk. He quickly took a gumball out of his pocket and chewed it, transforming back into his civilian self. Then, Henry walked out from behind the bush making sure that there was still no one around. He headed towards the ice cream shop which was crowded with a bunch of different teenagers studying and chatting loudly outside. Henry was about to go inside when he saw his sister Piper at a table with _some guy_. Piper had her long blonde hair curled with light makeup on. She was wearing a short yellow dress, and she was currently giggling at something that the boy said. Henry walked over and put his hand on Piper's shoulder.

"Hey Pipes, you didn't tell me you were going out tonight." Henry said glaring at the tall, pale skinned brunette. The boy cleared his throat and looked away. Piper felt her cheeks inflame. She finally got a date with the cutest guy in her grade, and her brother just _had_ to ruin it.

"You were so busy snuggling with your girlfriend, you probably missed it." Piper said with a smirk on her face. Henry ground his teeth.

"So, who's this?" Henry said getting straight to the point. The boy boldly looked Henry in the eye before introducing himself.

"Hi, I'm Peter." Peter said standing up and offering Henry his hand. Henry looked at it rudely before crossing his arms. Peter pulled his hand away knowing that Henry wasn't going to shake it, and he started rubbing his neck nervously.

"If you don't get out of here, I'll tell Char what you did. You know that she'll be on my side." Piper said crossing her arms and glaring up at her brother.

"Leave Charlotte out of this." Henry said feeling his temper flare. Peter looked up.

"Wait, you're dating _Charlotte Bolton_? The girl that got into Stanford with like the 5.0 GPA?" Peter asked incredulously. Henry proceeded to glare at him once again.

"Yeah, he is." Piper said smirking at Henry, practically daring him to disagree.

"No, I'm not. We're just friends which is what I'm hoping that you two are." Piper rolled her eyes and responded.

"Not everyone likes to live in denial like you two, so _no_ , we're _not_ just friends." Piper said turning around and smiling kindly at Peter who blushed slightly. Henry rolled his eyes. Although it was a weak argument, Piper was right. He knew Charlotte would scold him for his little display with Piper's new boyfriend, and she was probably irratated that he wasn't already there with her ice cream. Henry sighed.

"Unfortunately, I have somewhere to be, but you better bring Piper home in an hour." Henry said sending Peter a vicious look and walking inside the ice cream shop. He quickly ordered an ice cream for himself and Charlotte before paying. As he was walking out, he saw Peter lean toward his sister looking as if he might kiss her. Henry couldn't resist. He walked over towards Peter and gave him a good smack on the back.

"See you later guys!" He said waving as he started walked back home smiling to himself. He could vaguely hear Piper cursing him out as he walked away. She was probably going to tell Charlotte about this later, but it was totally worth it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hey guys, I'm super sorry that this was so short. This chapter isn't exactly what I thought it would be, but you write what you write. XD I'll (probably) update soon! Please review! I want to know what you guys think of P^2 (Peter x Piper). ;P


	4. Chapter 4

Worry hung over Charlotte like a dark, brooding cloud. She tried not to think about it, but without Henry next to her to steal her attention, it was all she could think about. She always worried about Henry; he was her best friend and the most important person in her life, if she were going to be honest with herself. Henry was the center of her thoughts more often than not, and she wished desperately that he wasn't. Even though she liked to pretend that she loved Henry in a purely platonic way, Charlotte knew it was a lie. She looked forward to and savored every text, call, touch, and moment they shared. She missed him more than words could ever begin to explain when they weren't together. She'd felt this way since middle school, but Henry had paid her no attention then. He chased after Chloe, Bianca, and Veronica, but he never sought _her_ attention. It hurt in a way that never seemed to heal, but Charlotte listened to every single girl problem that he had. She loved him enough to let go, or at least she _tried_ to let him go. She was pondering her relationship with Henry as she walked toward his house when someone ran into her. The impact knocked her off of her feet, and she held back a slew of curses. Charlotte opened her mouth and looked up to give the person a piece of her mind, but all she saw was a blur of black at the end of the street.

"What was that about?" Charlotte asked herself. She got up and brushed her pants off and rearranged her shirt. As she was trying to fix her outfit, she noticed a small, circular, black thing with an attached wire on her shirt. She took it off quickly and observed it. Charlotte knew that she didn't put this on herself. _Did that stranger put this thing on me? It looks like a recorder or something… What if someone's bugging me to get to Henry?_ Charlotte thought barely constraining the panic that arose accompanying the thought. She resisted the urge to sprint back in Henry's direction and tell him. She had to act natural. If she fed whoever was listening false information, then maybe they would leave her and Henry alone. She took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way to Henry's house.

Once she got there, she turned on the television in the living room and placed the wire on the couch. Then, she quietly went upstairs to Henry's room to grab her pear phone and keys. She opened her phone and called Henry. She practically growled when it went straight to voicemail. She put her hands over her face and decided to go back down the stairs. She sat down on the couch and laughed as authentically as she could, hoping to fool whoever was listening. _How long are they really gonna believe this? God, I hope Henry gets home soon._ Charlotte said nervously tapping her foot and staring at the front door anxiously.

After a good ten minutes, she saw the handle to the front door turn. She jumped to her feet, turned up Natural Surgeries, and silently opened the door coming face to face with Henry who was holding a melting strawberry ice cream cone and a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

"Hey-" Henry said before Charlotte covered his mouth. She motioned for him to step backward, and he complied while raising his eyebrows. Charlotte closed the door without making a sound and removed her hand from Henry's mouth.

"I think someone put a wire on me to try to spy on you." Charlotte said not giving Henry time to even gather himself. Henry's eyes practically fell out of his head, and he dropped the bowl of ice cream.

"Ar-are you _serious_? Why do you think that? When did that happen?" Henry said lowering his voice and leaning towards Charlotte. He focused his gorgeous brown eyes on her, giving her his full attention. Charlotte's heart rate picked up in response to Henry's closeness. She tried to ignore it by taking the remaining melting ice cream cone from Henry's hand.

"I was walking back to your house, and someone bumped into me. I think that's when they stuck it on me then. I put it on the couch. Hopefully, they think that I've been watching television." Charlotte said. Henry's face clouded over with emotions. He closed his eyes forcefully as he pushed his sticky hands through his hair. He opened his eyes again, and Charlotte felt her heart break. Henry looked like he was carrying the world on his shoulders. His usually cheerful expression was broken, but the words that came out of his mouth next still took Charlotte by surprise.

"Charlotte, I think that you coming here was a mistake. You should leave. I can get you tickets to New York City, so you can be with your parents for the rest of the summer." It practically pained Henry to say it, but he wanted, _needed_ Charlotte to be safe. Charlotte glared at him.

"What are you saying, Henry?" Charlotte said in shock. She wanted to make sure that she heard him correctly before she blew up.

"I'm saying that you can't be here. It's not safe." Henry said, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. Charlotte wasn't having it.

"I'm not going to leave you because it gets dangerous, Henry. I'm your _best friend_. I can't believe you would even suggest this!" Charlotte said raising her voice. She felt something cold drip down her clenched fist, and she realized that she had crushed her ice cream cone in her anger. She dropped it and let the remaining ice cream drip down her hand. Henry felt himself get angry as well.

"It's not like I don't _want_ you here, Char! I can't let anything happen to you." Henry said getting closer to Charlotte to the point where his chest was just inches away from her face.

"Well, I don't hear you suggesting that you send Jasper or Piper away! What's so special about me? You know that I can help you, but you're trying to send me away." Charlotte said, sending him a ferocious glare. For once, Charlotte's glare didn't scare him off. In despite of himself, Henry felt his emotions start to get out of control. _How could she ask me that?_ Henry thought.

"You helping me isn't as important as keeping you safe! They don't mean as much to me as you do. I don't know _what_ I would do if anything happened to you. Why can't you understand that?" Henry said voice heavy with unspoken emotions. Charlotte stared at him, speechless. She felt her heart swell with hope at his words, but she pushed it down. They were very close friends. That's what he was talking about. He didn't love her or anything. After a couple of seconds of talking herself down, she replied.

"Well, what about you? Who's helping you? I _refuse_ to leave you alone when someone who might actually be dangerous comes along." Henry sighed as he heard the resignation in her voice. Despite himself, he couldn't help being in awe of her stubbornness. She was right, he did need her, but that didn't mean he wasn't concerned for her safety.

"Could you just think about it, please?" Henry said taking her free hand and squeezing it. Charlotte was determined to give him a piece of her mind, but the pleading in Henry's voice threw her off. She almost felt bad for raising her voice. His eyes were full of worry and anxiety, and it dawned on her how much this was hurting him.

"I'll think about it." The words tumbled out of Charlotte's mouth. Henry smiled a little bit in response. Looking at Henry, Charlotte had this strong urge to kiss him. _Would he back away if I move closer?_ She thought slowly inching closer.

Henry swore that he could feel his body burst into flames as Charlotte moved closer to him. He couldn't be sure, but Henry thought Charlotte was staring at his lips. Almost instinctively, Henry moved closer practically drinking Charlotte in. He leaned down towards her, dipping his head down. Henry released her hand, and he rested it on her waist. They were nose to nose, breathing each other's air. Charlotte's heart was beating so loudly that she wondered if Henry could hear it.

" _That's_ Charlotte?!" A voice said from a couple feet away. Charlotte jumped away from Henry, startled. She looked over at a tall, ecstatic brunette and an angry looking Piper standing a few feet away.

"Henry will _really_ hate you now." Piper mumbled to herself as she glared at Peter. Peter was oblivious, and he started to walk towards Charlotte until he met Henry's gaze. Henry felt his blood boil as he stared at that **_idiot_** , _Peter_. He tore his eyes away from his new enemy, Peter, to look longingly at Charlotte who was a couple feet from him. She felt so far away from him…

"What do you want, _Peter_?" Henry said, saying Peter's name mockingly and with obvious venom. Charlotte almost felt bad for Peter. He was practically shaking in fear, and he looked like he was seconds from running away.

"I-I was just dropping Piper off early, so you would be happy. Piper told me that this is Charlotte Bolton, and I got excited…" Peter said, looking like a dear in head lights. Charlotte glanced at Henry out of the corner of her eye. He looked like he might light Peter on fire, and Charlotte could ashamedly relate. She ignored the petty part of her, and introduced herself.

"Hey, I'm Charlotte." Charlotte said waving and offering Peter her hand to shake. Peter lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Hi, I'm Peter! I've heard a lot about you! You're practically a legend at the high school. Is it true that you got a 5.0 GPA?" Peter said with a large smile on his face.

"Uh, no, I had a 4.89 when I graduated, but that's not in the 4.0 scale." Charlotte said in a matter-of-fact tone. Peter's smile widened, and he proceeded to go on a nerdy tangent.

"That's amazing! I've wanted to go to Stanford since I was little. How's the camp-"

"Thanks for dropping Piper off, but Charlotte's busy." Henry interrupted practically _daring_ Peter to disagree. Peter deflated and said goodbye to everyone quietly. Peter stared at Piper affectionately and kissed her on the cheek. Piper blushed and told him that she would text him later.

Charlotte looked at the affectionate display and wished that was her and Henry. She looked over at Henry to see him glaring and clenching his fists. She put her hand over his, and he immediately looked over to her. Once Peter had left, Piper cleared her throat.

"I'm going inside now. Try not to make me an aunt." Charlotte blushed profusely, and Henry just coughed awkwardly. Then, Charlotte remembered that she left the recorder in the living room.

"Hold on, I need to go inside first." Charlotte said opening the door quietly and running over to the couch. She picked up the recorder and put it on her shirt. Piper walked inside while giving Charlotte a strange look.

"Hey Piper! Where'd you go?" Charlotte said, praying that Piper would play along. Alas, her prayers were not answered.

"What are you talking about? You just saw m-" Piper said confused before Henry walked in after her.

"Hey Char, Piper and I were just at the ice cream parlor with her new boyfriend. I wanted to see if he was good enough for her. He's not." Henry said rudely interrupting her. Piper glared.

"Peter's actually a nice guy, Henry." Piper said getting defensive. She crossed her arms and glared at Henry who mimicked her.

"I'm sure that her boyfriend is fine, Henry. Plus, she's old enough to make her own decisions on who to date. Weren't you in middle school when you dated Bianca?" Charlotte said pointedly. Henry glared at her.

"That's not important. I'm her brother, so of course, she needs my permission." Piper bent over and laughed. Charlotte chuckled too. Henry growled and glared at them both, but he knew that he had lost the argument.

"Yeah, _sure_. Well, I'm going to go upstairs and head to bed." Charlotte said before winking at Henry.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go to bed too." Henry said as Charlotte walked past him to go up the stairs. Piper stopped laughing to gawk at them.

"It's only eleven. How old are you? Sixty?" Piper said before plopping on the couch and taking her phone out. Henry followed Charlotte as she walked towards the guest room. The Hart's guest room was the only bland room in the house, but it was her favorite. The walls were a soft yellow with gray accents. The full size bed in the middle was covered in a gray and white floral bedspread. Her black suitcases sat neatly at the end of the ottoman. Because she was known for staying in the guest room, Henry's mother had decorated the room with photos of her, Henry, and Jasper. There was one framed on the cherry wood nightstand. It was one of her favorites. Henry, Charlotte, and Jasper had just graduated from high school. Henry's mother had made a comment that Henry and Jasper only graduated because of Charlotte. Charlotte laughed it off, but Henry and Jasper agreed. They had whispered to themselves before they had attacked her. They both put their arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. Henry's father had been able to capture the moment with a picture. Charlotte had been in the middle of a giggle when the photo was taken, and her face practically glowed from the happiness she felt. Charlotte smiled just looking at it. She looked behind her to see that Henry had followed her into the room. She ignored him and took her toiletries and pajamas out of one of her suitcases. She walked over to the connected bathroom to change.

As soon as Charlotte left to go change, Henry walked over towards her bed and sighed. He knew that Charlotte would find him if she really needed him, but he was afraid of letting her leave his sight. Plus, he couldn't stop thinking about earlier. He couldn't tell if he had imagined it, but it felt like they were going to kiss. Henry felt a bright smile creep on his face just thinking about it. (Even though Piper was joking, Henry would love to marry and have children with Charlotte. He couldn't help but to indulge in the fantasy of waking up next to Charlotte every day, having breakfast with their two tan skinned, curly haired children, and kissing his family goodnight every night with special attention to his wife, Charlotte.) Henry heard the shower turn on as well as some music before the bathroom door opened. Charlotte stepped out in some short shorts and a tee shirt, and she walked over and sat next to Henry on the bed. Henry swallowed loudly as he forced himself not to stare at Charlotte's gorgeous and toned legs.

"So, what should we do? I mean, I can leave the bug in the bathroom for a while. It was on my shirt, so it would make sense for me to take my shirt off to shower." Charlotte said looking at Henry expectantly.

"Why are you looking at me? You're the idea person." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"You can still give me some suggestions."

"I think that you should leave it in there until tomorrow. We can ask Schwoz if he can find out where the feed is going then." Charlotte smiled at him.

"I'm sleeping in here tonight. I'll sleep on the floor if you want me to, but I'm not leaving you alone." Henry said looking at her determinedly.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor. We slept next to each other earlier. I know that you barely get sleep as it is. Sleeping on the floor isn't going to help you get more sleep." Charlotte said before crawling over Henry, pushing back the covers, and getting into bed.

"Can you turn off the shower?" Charlotte said while pulling her phone out of her shorts' pocket. Henry nodded before getting up and walking into the bathroom. Charlotte was reading an article about recording devices on her phone when Henry came out of the bathroom. She felt a slightly cold draft on her legs as he pulled the covers back, and that's when she looked up at him. Henry was shirtless and in his navy blue boxers, exposing his robust and muscular chest. Charlotte felt her face inflame as she blatantly stared at him. _Being a superhero sidekick really paid off._ Charlotte thought to herself as she committed his six pack, pecs, and shoulders to memory. Her heart hammered so hard in her chest that she wondered if she might combust.

"You're not wearing a shirt." Henry looked at her oddly as he climbed in the bed next to her.

"Yeah, it's too hot to wear a shirt. Is that a problem?"

" ** _No!_** I mean… that's fine." Charlotte said practically cursing herself for being so obvious, but I mean he had to know what he was doing to her. First, he seems like he might kiss her, and then, he decides to sleep next to her shirtless. Charlotte couldn't decide if Fate loved her or was teasing her. Either way, Charlotte wasn't exactly complaining as Henry scooted closer to her.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey guys! It's been so long! (*laughs awkwardly*) First things first, I have some preliminaries! Thank you, thank you, thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I couldn't see the reviews for a couple of days which was super sad. ;( I love reading them! Please post more! (*Begs on floor*) As an _I'm so sorry that I got lazy with the last chapter_ present, I wrote an extra long chapter this time. XD (So sorry that it took so long. I'm a robot who can't write emotions, so this actually took forever.) Before I forget, I wrote a part of this fic for Shonashee! Specifically, the OT3 picture because I was inspired by your adorable fic that I haven't finished yet! (So sorry! Forgive me!)

Also! I was wondering if you guys would be interested in me writing another fic. I have three choices. **A**. Christmas One-shot **B**. New Year's One-Shot **C**. A Truth or Dare One-shot (Or **D**. You hate me, and I should stop writing.) This is my Christmas present to you guys! (Unless you're not religious or observe another religion because then it's my _Sorry this took me like 5 days to write present._ )

P.S.: Do you guy hate Peter? (Because _I_ hate Peter...) He totally ruined the moment. XP


	5. Chapter 5

Henry groaned as the sunlight hit his face. He shoved his head deeper into the soft, silky pillow. It smelt delicious, like coconut and vanilla. He was at the edge of slumber until his pillow moved. Henry growled before he realized that pillows don't move. He opened his eyes slightly to see a sea of brown curls. He smiled as he realized that he was sleeping on Charlotte's hair. Her bun had come undone, and Henry had his nose deep in her scalp. Charlotte shook her head a little and mumbled incoherently in her sleep. Henry wasn't going to waste an opportunity to get more sleep with his favorite girl in the world. He closed his eyes once again and was practically asleep when he heard the door open.

"Charlotte, have you seen Henry?" Piper said opening the door loudly. Henry picked his head up and glared at his sister who stood in the doorway shocked.

"Oh my God, what am I _seeing_?! I'm sending this to Jasper. He'll flip." Piper said covering her mouth and taking a picture. Henry felt heat rise to his cheeks as he realized what this looked like. Henry was sleeping shirtless in Charlotte's room, and their bodies were practically melded together. Their legs were entangled, Charlotte's head resting on his shoulder, his face resting on her head, her hands around his chest, and his wrapped around her waist.

"Wait, don't send that to Jasper! This isn't what it looks like. We were just sleeping, I promise." Henry said while trying to distance himself from a still sleeping Charlotte discreetly.

"Yeah, _sure_. I'm not _ten_ , Henry. No wonder you went to bed early." Piper said with a smirk on her face.

"I'm not lying! I just… What are you _doing_ in here anyway?" Henry said getting annoyed. Piper rolled her eyes.

"Looking for you! You're supposed to be taking me to school this week while Mom and Dad are on that cruise. My English final starts in an hour, and I need to get there early to turn in my project." Henry could practically slap himself. With all of the commotion, he almost forgot that he was Piper's ride to school for the week.

"Ugh, I forgot, I'm sorry. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes. Just let me get dressed." Piper nodded before snagging one last picture and leaving. Henry gently moved Charlotte's head on to a pillow and disentangled their arms. Charlotte groaned and rewrapped her hands around his chest.

"Henry…" She mumbled. Henry felt his blush deepen. _Is she dreaming about me?_ Henry thought staring at her with a small smile. He resisted the urge to go back to sleep next to Charlotte and let Piper fend for herself, but he made a promise to his parents to take care of his sister. As kindly and as gently as he could, he took Charlotte's hands off of him and placed them around a spare pillow. He closed the door to her room softly and headed towards his room to change.

"Doing the walk of shame, Henry?" Piper said as Henry walked by the door to her room.

"Shut up, Piper. Nothing happened." Henry said walking faster. Piper just hummed in mock agreement. Henry slammed open the door to his room, threw on a pair of jeans and a red muscle t-shirt, and brushing his teeth quickly. He ran down the stairs with a toothbrush in his mouth, and he grabbed his car keys.

"Come on, Piper. Let's go!" Henry said walking towards the garage where his dark blue Honda Civic sat. He opened the driver's side door, pushed the garage door opener in his car, and started his car. As he waited for Piper to scurry to the garage, he felt his phone vibrate several times. He groaned as he saw that he had ten texts from Jasper. Apparently, Piper had sent Jasper the picture of him and Charlotte sleeping next to each other. Henry was about to respond when Jasper called him. Henry answered it and put it on speaker phone.

"You and Charlotte are FINALLY together, and you didn't tell me?! I can't believe that you would keep this from me!" Jasper practically yelled into the phone. Henry sighed and rested his head on the steering wheel of the car.

"Char and I aren't together. We were just sleeping together." Henry said already tired of this conversation.

"What? You're _sleeping_ with Charlotte, but you're not _dating_ her? I didn't think that I would have to protect Charlotte from _you_ , Henry." Jasper said slightly appalled. Henry lifted his head up in confusion.

"Why would you have to protect Charlotte from me… Jasper, I didn't sleep with Charlotte. I slept next to her. You know platonically." Henry said getting frustrated.

"Ugh, _what_? Well, then why were you shirtless and cuddling?"

"It summertime, and it gets hot!"

"If it's so hot, then why were you cuddling?" Jasper said. He wasn't trying to pester Henry. He was just curious, and he always thought that Henry and Charlotte would be good together. Henry didn't really know the answer to that question. Henry knew that he loved Charlotte, and every touch that they shared _just wasn't enough_. He could hold her for eternity, and it would never be enough. He wanted to be in her presence constantly, and he wished desperately that they were together just so he wouldn't have to hold himself back anymore. He wanted to hug her and hold her without wondering if he was crossing over some unspoken line. If he _ever_ got to kiss her, he wasn't sure he would ever stop. He couldn't tell Jasper that though, so he tried to think of something reasonable to say.

"I… I have to take Piper to school. I'll talk to you later, Jasper." Henry said as Piper came over to the car with her backpack in tow. Before Jasper could respond, Henry quickly ended the conversation. Henry glanced at Piper's outfit as she climbed into the passenger's side. She was wearing holey gray jeans, a long, floral, short sleeved shirt with white high top Converse. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she had on light makeup.

"You look nice. It better not be for that _Peter_ guy." Henry said moving the car out of the garage and driving towards the high school.

"Peter wishes. No, me and my girls are going to the mall after school today." Piper said pulling out her cellphone and turning the radio on. Henry immediately turned the radio off.

"Piper, you have terrible music taste. Nobody wants to listen to Pop this early in the morning." Henry grumbled.

"Well, at least, I don't listen to Jazz. I mean how old _are_ you? Nobody even knows who Kenny G is anymore. Even Dad doesn't listen to Jazz." Piper said mockingly.

"First of all, Kenny G is totally a classic. Everyone knows Kenny G. Second, Dad listens to audiobooks in the car, and we can both agree that Jazz is better than some book on architecture." Piper started laughing, and Henry chuckled a little.

"Yeah, you're totally right. Mom was complaining to me yesterday about it. Apparently, Dad spent their whole flight and the cab ride telling her about how his favorite bridge was made." Piper said in between giggles. Henry and Piper laughed and made fun of their father for the rest of the ride to the high school.

"Good luck today." Henry said as Piper was getting out of the car. She nodded before slamming the door and yelling at him not to forget to pick her up. As Henry was driving back home, he felt his stomach growl. Man, he could go for an omelet right now, but not just any omelet, one of his _special_ omelets.

Charlotte woke up to one of her favorite scents in the world, Henry's omelets. If there was anything better than waking up next to Henry, then it was waking up to the smell of Henry's cooking. Unlike Piper, Henry can cook extremely well. As soon as she recognized the scent, Charlotte grabbed her glasses, jumped out of bed, and raced down the stairs to the kitchen. Henry was standing in front of the stove with a white spatula in hand.

"Are you making an omelet?!" Charlotte said standing behind Henry and trying to peer around his body to look at what was in the frying pan. Henry turned his head to look at her.

"Good Morning to you too, Charlotte." Henry said sarcastically. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Good Morning, how did you sleep? Whatever. _Are you making omelets?_ "

"Yeah, I am." Henry said, chuckling at her obvious impatience. Charlotte started beaming, and she hugged him tightly from her spot behind him.

"Oh God, I love you so much. Your omelets taste so good. They're light and fluffy, and they have the perfect egg to cheese ratio." Charlotte said practically drooling just thinking about it. Henry barely managed not to stop cooking, pick Charlotte up, and kiss her senseless. If he ever doubted that she was the love of his life, that line totally confirmed it. Charlotte completely understood him, and she was his best friend in every sense of the word. He loved Jasper, but Charlotte was his other half. Henry cleared his throat and stared at his omelet to keep his attention away from the girl that was hugging him tightly.

"You can have the first one. I'll make myself one when I'm done." Henry said while adding the cheese.

"I'll wait and eat with you. Seriously, how did you sleep? You did get some sleep, right?" Charlotte slightly mumbled into his shirt. Henry smiled to himself. Charlotte was so cute.

"Yeah, it's the best sleep I've had in a while, and I didn't wake up to you slapping me." Henry said while Charlotte giggled into his shirt. Henry finished making his first omelet and placed it on a plate next to the stove before proceeding to make another one. Charlotte peered at the omelet, and she slowly unwrapped one of her arms from Henry's waist to try to grab a nibble of the omelet.

"Char, you said you would wait." Henry said, not even having to look over to know that Charlotte's hand was suspended above the freshly cooked omelet.

"It looks so _good_." Charlotte complained, slightly mocking Henry as she stared at the omelet. Steam was coming off of it, and cheese was oozing from the middle. It looked like something straight out of a cooking show. She wanted to eat with Henry though. She tore her eyes away from the edible masterpiece, released her arms from around Henry, and went to get some orange juice from the fridge. She grabbed the cartoon from the fridge, and she groaned as she got on her tippy toes to try to grab two glasses.

Henry watched amused as Charlotte tried to grab two glasses from a cabinet in the kitchen. She stuck her pink tongue out a little bit, and her t-shirt rode up a little exposing some of her flat stomach. Henry put his spatula down, and he walked over and picked up the two glasses easily. Charlotte glared at him.

"You're such a show-off." She huffed before she poured orange juice in the glasses. Henry laughed.

"No, you're just short." Henry said smirking as he went back to his omelet. He could practically feel her menacing glare on his back as he finished his own omelet. He plated his omelet before bringing both of them to the table where Charlotte was sitting. Charlotte already had her fork and knife ready, and she quickly started eating when Henry laid her plate down. Charlotte was scraping the plate clean after a few minutes, and Henry was quietly savoring his.

"That was delicious! You know what would go really well with this? Some strawberries. Could you get me some?" Charlotte said smiling at Henry kindly. He smiled back before getting up to grab some strawberries from the fridge. When he came back, he found Charlotte eating the rest of his omelet.

"Charlotte! I made you your own omelet. You're gonna get it." Henry glared at her with a mischievous smirk. He slowly inched closer to her, and she backed away with a nervous smile.

"It's just an omelet!" Charlotte said as she backed into the kitchen cabinet. Henry picked her up and put her on the counter. He smiled at her before tickling her sides without mercy. Charlotte squirmed and laughed so hard that tears came to her eyes.

"H-Henry! S-stop." She said between giggles.

"Not until you say that you love me." Henry said with a radiant smile.

"I-I love you, Hen." Charlotte said breathlessly. Henry felt his heart beat wildly out of control. The way Charlotte said that she loved him was so different than the way she had ever said it before. He tried not to think too much of it, but then he made the mistake of staring into her eyes. Those big brown abysses were one of his greatest weaknesses. He could feel himself get lost in them. Charlotte felt like a drug that brought him on his greatest highs. He leaned in closer to her, and she moved closer to him. Henry's eyes strayed from hers to stare at her lips. _Was God going to finally answer his prayers?_ Before he could even finish the thought, Charlotte had captured his lips with hers.

Henry had imagined kissing Charlotte thousands of times, but the real thing blew his fantasies out of the water. Henry swore that even his blood felt like it was on fire. His heart was running a freakin' marathon, and he couldn't get enough of Charlotte. He kissed her back urgently, trying to show her every ounce of love that he had for her in one kiss. His arms pulled her closer to him, and her legs wrapped around his waist. Henry groaned as Charlotte leaned her chest against his. She then put her hands in his hair and brought him even closer.

Charlotte was convinced that she was dreaming. There was no way that this could be real. Henry would never kiss her back, and he definitely would never kiss her like _this_ , like he loved her so much that it hurt. She was ripped out of her disbelief by Henry who was biting her lower lip slightly. If Charlotte's eyes weren't already closed, she would have closed them as she rolled her eyes to the back of her head. She moaned, and then their kisses got frantic and passionate. They were both scared that this was really just another fantasy, and it almost pained them to stop for air.

As Henry pulled away, he stared at Charlotte with her lips swollen, a goofy smile on her face, and her pupils blown back so wide that he could barely see the brown of her irises. He knew that he needed oxygen, but every part of him felt like it needed Charlotte more. So after a minute of catching his breath, he kissed her again. Charlotte immediately kissed him back. They had been waiting for this for so long that it felt like they might never get to experience this ever again. Henry could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he ignored it, moved his hand from Charlotte's waist to her cheek, and continued to kiss Charlotte senseless. After what felt like a few brief seconds but was really minutes, Henry heard his alarm beep. Charlotte heard it to, and because she was the reasonable one, she pulled away from Henry's lips even though she really didn't want to. Henry tried to pull her back to him, but Charlotte's moved her hands which were tangled in Henry's hair to his shoulders and put some distance between them.

"Do I have to answer it?" Henry said begging Charlotte to say no and kiss him again.

"Yeah, it's your job." Charlotte said slightly irritated. Henry sighed loudly before he answered. A hologram of Schwoz appeared above his wrist.

"Henry! I just got your message! If you want to figure out where the feed is coming from, you need to get down here now before they close off the feed." Schwoz said slurring some of the words together.

"He's right! I didn't even think about that when I left it in my bathroom last night." Charlotte said running upstairs to go grab the bug and put on some clothes. Henry sighed as he watched her go. Henry wished for the first time in his life that he was just a regular guy, so that he could continue to shower Charlotte with affection. Even if he sometimes wished that he wasn't, Henry was meant to be a superhero, and his superpowers were given to him for a reason, to protect the people that he loved.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey guys! I'm actually updating before midnight! So, I decided that I'm going to attempt to do all of the one-shots. We will see how that goes. Unfortunately, I won't be updating this story until after Christmas, so I made it special (*winks obnoxiously*). Thank you so much for all of the reviews, follows, and favs! I literally die reading every single one, so don't stop! (If I didn't know any better, I would say that that's your favorite chapter. XP) Hopefully, I'll post the Truth-or-Dare fic tomorrow and the Christmas one on Christmas. Enjoy your night! If your wondering about the omelet thing, it comes from Motion Comic #8. Have a good night!


	6. Chapter 6

Charlotte's knew that this was an important task, and that she should be laser focused, but she wasn't. Her thoughts were scattered, and it seemed like all that she could really think about was that kiss. Her cheeks reddened, and her heart swelled at the memory. What did this mean for them? Could she finally tell Henry that she was in love with him? Charlotte almost got lost in the daydream of them being an _actual_ couple. She wondered if anything would change between them, or if their relationship would somehow get better than it already was. All these thoughts swirled around in her mind, until she walked into the clean bathroom and saw the bug on her shirt, on the dark granite counter, where she left it. Her mind suddenly found the concentration that she was originally looking for. She internally reprimanded herself for not paying attention to what _really_ mattered. Just because no one had done anything seriously dangerous in Swellview before, didn't mean that it was impossible. _This_ was more important right now than whether or not she would be in a relationship with Henry.

Charlotte grabbed the bug quickly, briskly brushed her teeth, and put some contacts in her eyes. She quickly changed into sky blue skinny jeans and a collared, sleeveless white shirt. She threw on her striped black and white Adidas and grabbed her phone and keys before rushing down the stairs towards Henry, who was cleaning up the kitchen. He looked up at her as she walked back in the room.

"We need to get going, so I can go say hi to Ray at Junk-N-Stuff." Charlotte said pointing at the bug in her hand. Henry nodded and hurriedly put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher.

"You want to walk?" Henry asked as he dried his hands off with a towel.

"Yeah, It's not too far." Charlotte said opening the front door and waiting for him. Henry walked past, locking the door behind him.

"That's the first time that I've ever seen you lock the door. Actually, that's the first time I've seen that door locked." Charlotte said as they started walking towards Junk-N-Stuff. Henry laughed in response.

"I think it's the first time that I think I've actually locked the door." Charlotte lightly slapped his arm.

"You need to stop trusting the people in this town and lock your door." Charlotte scolded.

"Yes, mam." Henry said. They silently walked in sync for a few minutes until Charlotte felt Henry grasp her free hand. He intertwined their fingers together and swung them in time with the gait of their walk. Charlotte looked up at Henry to see him staring at her. His eyes practically shone with hope and love as he stared back at her. Henry's whole demeanor seemed to scream that they would be talking about what happened in the kitchen later on. Charlotte could even feel her ears burn with a blush as she thought about the kiss earlier. They both walked the rest of the way to Junk-N-Stuff with a smile on their face.

As soon as they had gotten down the elevator, Schwoz bombarded them with questions.

"Where's the bug? When did you find it yesterday? Do you know who put it on you?" Charlotte immediately stepped out of the elevator, and Henry followed right behind her. She took the bug out of her hand and handed it to over to Schwoz.

"Here. Someone put it on me last night. I'm not actually sure who did it. They ran away before I could get a good look." He nodded his head at her answers and walked over towards the computer. Charlotte and Henry followed and watched in awe as Schwoz tapped a few buttons, and a dark metal canister came up from the computer desk. Red, blue, and green wires were coming out of the top, and it split open automatically. Schwoz put the tracker inside.

"What does that do, Schwoz?" Henry asked as he watched the cylinder vanished back into the computer just as quickly as it had come.

"It interrupts the signal, so whoever is listening can only hear static, and then it uses GPS to find where the feed is being transmitted." Schwoz said quickly as he tapped on the edge of the computer nervously.

"I haven't used it since I tested it out years ago, so I'm not sure how well it will work." As he finished the sentence, a GPS coordinate popped up on the computer screen. Schwoz clicked on it, and it showed an abandoned Frittle factory in the outskirts of Swellview.

"That's where the person who bugged Char is?" Henry said already pulling his packet of gumballs out of his pants pocket. Schwoz nodded. Henry gently let go of Charlotte's hand before throwing a red gumball in his mouth. He chewed it and transformed into Kid Danger. Charlotte watched with a worried expression on her face. Something about this just didn't feel right to her. It almost felt too easy, but then again, the villains in this town weren't the brightest. She grabbed Henry's arm, and he instinctively turned toward her.

"Promise me that you'll be careful. I-I _need_ you to come back, and this might be dangerous." Charlotte said, her voice betraying her by cracking a little bit. Henry brought her in for a hug, and Charlotte returned the hug by wrapping her arms around him tightly. Henry leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I promise that I'll come back to you, Char. I _have_ to come back. We haven't talked about _us_ yet, and I was hoping to ask you to be my girlfriend…" He said with his voice barely above a whisper. Charlotte felt her entire body freeze in shock, and her mind melt at his words. Before she could even respond, he lowered his lips to her cheek to leave a lingering kiss and let go. Charlotte's hands fell limply to her sides, and a goofy smile erupted on her face. Henry walked over towards the tube with more enthusiasm than usual, and he winked at Charlotte before leaving.

Charlotte's whole body felt like it was full of electricity, and she was in her own happy world when the Crime Alert went off. Schwoz clicked on it to pin point the exact location, and after a few seconds, Ray showed up with a towel swung around his hips and water dripped down his body.

"What happened? Where's the crime?" Ray said in slight panic. Schwoz looked up grimly.

"There's a fire at the movie theater, and the fire department won't be able to get there in time because of a car crash blocking the road." Ray frowned, and his eyebrows wrinkled in concern. He looked around the room briefly.

"Where's Henry? I need two people to stop the fire. One of us needs to try to put out the fire, and the other needs to help the citizens get outside."

"Henry's not here. He went to go figure out who bugged me last night. He told you and Schwoz, right?" Charlotte said. Ray groaned before looking towards Charlotte to help. Schwoz's face lit up despite the grim situation.

"I can go! I'll use the portable water hose and help you put out the fire!" Schwoz said pulling out a container of gumballs. Ray's eyes widened.

"Schwoz, why do you even _have_ those? Why can't Charlotte come with me? She's been Kid Danger before." Schwoz pulled out his puppy dog eyes before begging Ray to take him.

" _Pllleeeassseeee_ , Ray! I'll do anything." Schwoz said holding his hands together. Ray sighed.

" _FINE._ I'm going to regret this later, won't I? Let's blow and go, … Schwoz." Ray said throwing a gumball in his mouth and transforming into Captain Man. She watched in half awe and half disgust as Schwoz transformed into the Kid Danger uniform. He looked ridiculous, but he had the biggest smile on his face. She watched as they both went up the tube to go fight the fire.

Charlotte was sitting by the computer waiting for any feedback from Henry, Schwoz, or Ray when she heard the elevator open. She turned around in her chair expecting to see Jasper, and she gasped when she saw the gorgeous, tall, gray eyed young man walk out of the elevator like he owned the place.

" _Taylor_? What the _hell_ are you doing here?" Charlotte said trying to discreetly search for a weapon or the emergency button. She had no idea what he was doing down here, but she did know that he wasn't supposed to be here.

"Don't bother, Charlotte. I'm only here to chat." Taylor said as he admired the Man Cave with his golden tan hands in his dark wash jeans back pockets. Charlotte ignored him and pulled out a stun gun and aimed it at Taylor. Taylor looked over lazily and groaned.

"You _had_ to ruin it, didn't you?" He pulled a handheld gun out of his back pocket and pointed it at her. Charlotte felt fear bubble in her chest as she stared at the modern jet black gun pointed in her direction. Charlotte's felt her hands tremble, and the stun gun wobbled in her hand.

"Sit down. I'm not lying. I really did just come to chat." Taylor said waving her towards the chair with his gun. Charlotte sat obediently and dropped the stun gun on the floor.

"Let's hope that I don't have to threaten you again. That's tedious work, and I really like you Charlotte." Taylor said with a small smile. His smile made Charlotte's skin crawl. When she had first met him, she had thought he had a kind smile, but now it looked more like the smile of a menacing predator. Taylor stood a few feet away from her with the gun still trained at her head. The muscles in his arms were tensed, and she could tell that he would fire the gun at her if she didn't cooperate.

"You like me so much that you're holding a gun to my head." Charlotte quipped. Taylor laughed before he put his gun back into his jeans pocket.

"See, that's why I like you. You have _spunk_. I hold a gun to your head, but you still can't hold back your sarcastic comments." Taylor said before plopping down on the couch.

"How was your final Charlotte? You ace it?" Taylor said looking at her expectantly. Charlotte glared at Taylor. She didn't know what his deal was, but she doubted that he had come down here and held a gun to her head, just to find out what grade she had gotten on her final.

"Why are you here, Taylor?" Charlotte said venomously. She didn't like this feeling. The feeling of not being in control, of not knowing what was going on.

"Not in the mood for small talk? Alright, fine. We'll get straight down to business then. I'm not a big fan of your best friend, Kid Danger or rather Henry Hart." Taylor said, a smirk appearing on his face. His smirk looked vaguely like that of a snake. Charlotte felt her already spiked fear heighten and threaten to consume her. She felt as if her heart had fallen into her stomach and was being swallowed by the hydrochloric acid. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. The words repeated in her head over and over like an ominous omen.

"H-How?" Charlotte stuttered out for the first time in her life feeling _weak_ , _powerless_ , and _stupid_. Taylor threw his head back and laughed.

"You guys aren't as clever as you think you are. I've been watching you guys for months, but yesterday just made my day. Not only did Captain Man greet you at Junk-N-Stuff, but you walked out of Junk-N-Stuff arguing with Kid Danger. A _toddler_ could find out where the Man Cave was. I was disappointed on how easy it was to figure out who the superhero duo was in real life. It took me about a day of looking through photos and hacking the high school and doctor's office in Swellview for their records."

"But why do you care?" Taylor sat up at this question. His calm demeanor receded, and his fist clenched at his sides. He ground his teeth before getting out of the chair.

" _Because Henry ruined my life!_ " Taylor shouted loudly. Charlotte flinched in her seat. He inhaled deeply and unclenched his fists, seemingly trying to keep the tidal wave of emotions and insanity at bay.

"Do you remember when you were brainwashed by Dr. Minyak and Nurse Cohort?" Taylor asked. Charlotte nodded afraid of what he might do if she didn't.

"Well, those are my parents, but if you ask them about it, do you know what they would say? That they don't _have_ a child. Do you know what it's like to have your parents completely forget who you are? I thought that they were joking for a while, but then they tried to _kill_ me. They thought that I was working for Captain Man as a spy or something. I had to raise _myself_ and watch my parents from a far. They weren't good people, but they _were_ good parents. All because **_your boyfriend_** and **_his stupid boss_** erased my parents' memory of me." Taylor said with years of pain and anger crawling into his voice. Tears were starting to form in his eyes, and Taylor seemed lost in his memories until Charlotte interrupted him.

"So, you're going to get revenge?" Charlotte said with dread pooling into her chest. Taylor's face morphed back into a bone chilling smile.

"I'm glad you asked. I don't want to kill them. _No_ , that's not enough. I want to _break_ them. I want them to drown in the pain and watch their loved ones disappear right before their eyes. I spent months observing Captain Man and Kid Danger. Watching them. Listening to them. Searching for any and _all_ weaknesses. In those few months, I learned quite a bit about the dynamic duo. With this new found information, I formulated a plan. Ray doesn't really have any family. The only person that he really cares about is Henry, and he would be _crushed_ if he had to watch his sidekick and prodigy go through tremendous pain. Henry seemed like the easy one to crush. He has a lot of family and friends, but _you_ , you're different. You mean everything to him. He practically _lives_ for you. That's why I infiltrated Stanford, so I can observe you. I can't blame him. You _are_ very special." Taylor said while getting out of his seat and circling Charlotte like a vulture. As he complimented her, he tapped on her nose with a small smile. Charlotte recoiled from his touch. She felt like she was going to be sick. Taylor was obviously psychopath, but he was intelligent and manipulative. That made him a real threat to the Man Cave

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey guys, I have so many apologies to give. First, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in forever, I actually had this done earlier, I just wasn't sure if I hated it or not. I've been dying to reveal the villain of this story, but I want to make this villain memorable and different. Second, I'm sorry about that one shot, I was supposed to have it up days ago, but I had jet lag, and a terrible flight home, so it didn't happen. To make it up to you guys, I'll write something of your choosing if you want. (It doesn't have to be a one-shot since I'm terrible at those. XP) By the way, this is like one part out of three. (Sorry to keep you hanging on the whole plans and such.) The plot only gets better from here. XD Thank you to everyone who continues to review, follow, and fav my stories. I appreciate every single review I get!


	7. Chapter 7

"What're you going to do to me?" She asked with more confidence then she felt. Taylor's gray eyes seemed to dance with mischief.

"No, it's what you're going to do. I told you that I wanted them _broken_ , Charlotte." Charlotte's could feel her omelet start to come back up her throat. She remembered the people with the purple eyes suddenly. It clicked in her brain all of the sudden. The fact that he was the son of Dr. Manyak, the man that had used musical brainwarping. The strange people with the marks and the glowing eyes.

"That was _you_?! Y-You brainwashed those people, didn't you? Is that what you're going to do with me?" Charlotte said, her voice wavering.

Shots of pure adrenaline coursed through her system from his words. She was panicking. That _couldn't_ happen to her again. The images of her old nightmares and night terrors of all those years ago were quickly coming back to haunt her with a vengeance. She barely registered the words coming out of Taylor's mouth.

"Of course that was me. Who else would it be? What other evil genius lives in this town?" Taylor snorted. Charlotte's heart pounded so hard in her chest that it was starting to hurt. She could feel the ends of her vision start to blur, and her body was shaking like a leaf in a rainstorm. She felt like she was barely hanging onto a cliff with one hand, and Taylor was slowly pulling her fingers off. One. By. One.

"P-Please. Don't do it. _Please_." Charlotte pleaded, resisting the urge to run out. She knew it would be fruitless, and that this wasn't the kind of problem that she could run away from.

"Oh, I won't. If you follow my instructions, no one will get hurt." Taylor said, but he pulled out a syringe from the pocket of his green jacket anyway. Charlotte moved the chair backwards with her feet without even thinking about it. All she saw was the syringe, and all she could think about was what was inside, some serum that would probably take away her control.

"Aw, Char, don't be scared." Taylor said with a smile.

"It's useless. There's no one to save you. I know _everything_ about you. I know about the anxiety attacks. I know about the night terrors, and there's no waking up from this nightmare." Taylor said maliciously. His smile becoming sinister in a matter of seconds. Taylor moved closer to Charlotte and took her head in his hands harshly. Charlotte could feel hot tears run down her face, but she was too scared to care about crying in front of a stranger.

She let out a blood curling scream as she felt a needle prick the smooth skin of her neck. Taylor covered her mouth with one of his dry, calloused hand.

"Shhh, no need to scream. It won't take affect yet. This was just my insurance. I can't let you babble our secrets out now, can I?" Taylor whispered in her ear. Charlotte shuddered and screamed louder, her muffled screams portraying the pain and fear that had taken over. Taylor pinched her cheek tightly.

"Stop screaming. I haven't even _done_ anything yet." Taylor commanded, but Charlotte continued to scream into his hand. She was lost; it was her worst nightmare coming to life. Being _used_. Being _out of control_.

"If you don't stop screaming, I'll be forced to ditch my original plan and blow up Henry right now." Taylor said, slightly annoyed. The words grounded her almost immediately.

"What?" Charlotte whispered in shock into his hand. Taylor removed his hand from her mouth.

"Great. I was saving that threat as kind of a finale of sorts, but I guess I'll have to speed things up." Charlotte thought that she was afraid before, but the words coming out of his mouth scared her more than any gun or drug.

"Don't you _dare_." Charlotte growled out, finding some semblance of strength in herself to try to save her best friend.

"If you cooperate, Henry will leave the warehouse without a scratch. If you don't, well, let's just say, there won't be a Henry left to love." Taylor said, leaning back from her and reaching into his pocket for some other horrifying thing.

"No. I-I'll cooperate. Just as long as no one gets hurt." Charlotte said with determination in her voice. Taylor's hand left his pocket, leaving whatever he was going to pull out dormant in his pocket, and he smirked.

"Perfect. I mean you didn't exactly have a choice, but it's so much easier with you doing what I say _willingly_." Taylor said, going back to sit on the couch. He looked down at his expensive gold watch with a frown.

"We don't have much time left to chat, so I'll make this brief. I want you to break Henry's heart. I want it torn out of his chest. I want him to hate you for ruining him. Don't give me a lazy performance either. I'll know. I'll be watching." Taylor said, straightening his jacket and brushing dust off of his pants.

"Let's make him jealous too, shall we? Tell him you love _Taylor_ , and that he doesn't compare to me. That should be fun. He'd _hate_ that." Taylor said before chuckling. Charlotte was disgusted by how calm and nonchalant he was being. Taylor was acting like this was some _game_ or _joke_ that they were both a part of.

"How the _hell_ am I supposed to lie to my best friend?" Charlotte yelled at him. Taylor glared at her, the cruelty and madness written all over his face.

"Figure it out. You _don't_ want me to do it for you, but I will if I have to." Taylor said before walking towards the elevator doors. Charlotte watched him go with hate burning in her chest. She didn't condone violence, but she had the strong urge to choke Taylor with her bare hands. He knew everything about all of them. _Everything_. She had never told anyone but her therapist about the nightmares. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. He knew all of the right buttons to push. She had never been more unsettled in her life. Taylor was using her as his puppet, and there was nothing she could do about it. He held all of the strings in his calloused hands. He had managed to figure out what all of her worst fears were and used every single one against her in less than an hour. Just thinking about the _serum_ in her body made her want to rip the skin off of her neck.

"See you later, Charlotte. Break a leg. I'll text you." Taylor said with an obnoxious wink before leaving the Man Cave. As soon as he was gone, sobs wracked through her body. She couldn't do this. If Henry loved her even a fraction of the way that she loved him, this was going to hurt. Charlotte cried even harder, cradling her knees to her chest. She took a raggedy breath. In through her nose. Out through her mouth.

She _had_ to do this. The emotional pain would be better than the alternative. She closed her eyes tightly and painfully as she imagined a life without Henry in it.

No matter what Taylor said, he was obviously willing to kill them both. Charlotte wouldn't put it past him to force her to kill Henry by taking control of her body. That couldn't happen. She wouldn't surrender the only amount of control that she had willingly. If she was going to break Henry's heart, she was going to do it _her_ way.

She took a few minutes to get herself together. There was no way that Henry would believe anything that she said if he saw her tear stained, pale face. She went into the bathroom, and she almost started crying as she looked into her reflection. She looked worse than she thought that she did.

Her nose was running profusely, her eyes were puffy, her hair was a mess, her skin was slightly pale, and she had a haunted look in her eye. She washed her face with cold water, hoping to cause the blood to rush back to her face. She blew her nose and fixed her hair. She tried to smile kindly in the mirror, but there was a weight on her mouth that didn't allow her to smile. She could feel the tears form in the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall again. Crying was not going to help her right now. She grabbed the porcelain sink and closed her eyes before taking another deep breath.

"You can do this, Charlotte. You have to do this. For Henry." She said to herself. She thought of his bright brown eyes, soft smile, silky hair, and corny jokes. The world needed him. _She_ needed him. She would do this, even though it would smash her heart into tiny, microscopic pieces. She never thought that she would ever have to save Henry from herself, but things change.

She walked out of the bathroom and back towards the entrance of the Man Cave, just in time for Henry to come back down the tube in his uniform. She was instantly relieved to see him all in one piece. Taylor didn't lie; Henry didn't have a scratch or a smudge on him. His eyebrows were crinkled in confusion, but he smiled once he saw her. He immediately walked over with a bright smile. He never got tired of being able to see Charlotte after a mission. His face fell when he saw her facial expression. He knew immediately that there was something wrong.

"What's wrong Charlotte? What happened?" Henry said, gently grabbing her arm. Charlotte looked down at his hand on her bare arm, and she cringed slightly, remembering who had touched her before Henry. The flinch that Henry saw wasn't faked. He moved his hand off of her, sensing that she was uncomfortable.

"Char, are you okay? You look like you've been crying…" Henry said, leaning in towards her slightly. Charlotte backed away. She didn't want him to touch her. It would make this so much harder. Henry looked at her with a hurt expression.

"No, I'm not okay, Henry." Charlotte choked out, resisting the urge to cry again. He was being so sweet and caring, and she was being so cold. All she wanted to do was cry into his arms and confess everything, but she couldn't do that. It would get them both in trouble.

"What's wrong, baby?" Henry said, trying to reach for her again (probably to engulf her in a hug), but she took a step back.

"You." Charlotte said, not looking him in the eye. They say that all good lies are wrapped up in the truth. This wasn't any different. Charlotte wasn't exactly lying. He _was_ what was wrong. He was in danger, and she had to keep him safe. Of course, Henry didn't know that was what she was really talking about. He took it exactly how she expected him to take it. He froze in shock, and Charlotte almost cried as she watched his face fall.

"Wh-What are you talking about, Char?" Henry said, his voice trembling, despite his mental protests. Charlotte could hear the fear and self-consciousness in it, and she closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath.

"We can't be together, Henry." Charlotte said, bluntly. Henry moved away from her then.

"But _why_?" Henry said, barely above a whisper. He was pleading with his eyes for her to take it back, for it not to be real. Charlotte cringed. He was taking this worse than she thought he would. She could practically see Taylor laughing and giggling like the lunatic he was. She clenched her fists by her side before continuing.

"What we did was a mistake, Henry." A part of her actually believed it. A part of her wished that they hadn't kissed, so that every other kiss she had wasn't ruined in her mind, and that she wouldn't be able to reply it in her mind for the rest of her life. Henry's mouth dropped open slightly and ran his hands through his hair roughly.

" _Char_ , _please_. _Please don't say that._ It meant _everything_ to me. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me, next to you walking into my life. You can't tell me that it was a mistake." Henry pleaded, trying to get her to understand, to hear the words that he wasn't saying. For the first time in her life, she heard them. Henry didn't just care for her or have a crush on her. Henry _loved_ her. He was _in love_ with her. She felt like screaming again. Why was it that when she finally finds out that her best friend returned her feelings, it's when she can't tell him how much she loves him? If she heard something shatter at that moment, she would have sworn it was her heart. It felt like it was being harshly beaten by a jack hammer.

"It was. We were just caught up in the moment. This, coming here, was a mistake." Charlotte heard herself say.

"How can you _say that,_ Charlotte _?_ Every time we're together, it's a moment. I _love_ you. I always have. That was more than just a moment for me, Charlotte. I thought that you felt the same way…" Henry said, raising his voice. He stared at her, and she swore she saw tears in the corner of his eyes. Charlotte wanted to scream at him that: _She did. She felt the same way. She loved him so much that it hurt. She dreamt of kissing him for so long that she couldn't even fathom the fact that it actually happened._ She didn't though. What she said instead pushed jagged knives through both of their hearts.

"I don't love you, Henry. I'm sorry if I lead you on. I've always thought of you as a friend. An attractive friend, maybe, but still a friend." Henry felt like she had slapped him in the face and strangled his heart. He had poured his feelings out to her, and she threw it in his face. He had imagined her rejecting him before, but she was never this _cruel_ , this _cold_. He barely managed to choke out something in shock.

"You don't love me?" Charlotte shook her head no, which was enough as it is, but Henry didn't even know how to feel about what come out of her mouth next.

"No, I don't. I-I love someone else…" Charlotte managed to choke out, remembering Taylor's 'request'. Henry felt like Charlotte had thrown an anvil at his chest. He couldn't breathe, and he swore his heart stopped cold in his chest. He couldn't believe this. Not only had she lead him on, she loved someone else. Henry couldn't even really fathom the idea of Charlotte, the person that he was the closest to, doing this to him.

" _You love someone else?_ " Henry said, barely understanding the weight of the words coming out of his mouth. All he saw was the guilt in her face, and he knew that he had to get out of here. He ran over to the tubes, jumped in one, and shouted up the tube in a broken voice. His heart was shattered in pieces all over the Man Cave, and he wasn't sure that it could ever be fixed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I know what you're thinking: "Lizlen, _WTF._ You don't update in weeks, and this is what you give me?! You break the real OTP?!" My literal response: SAME.

First of all, I'm sorry I didn't update Monday, but this week has been super busy! I know that those are terrible excuses, and you don't care. XP

Second of all, if this chapter broke you, I'm so sorry, but we're actually in the same boat. I almost cried at the keyboard. (I spent like half of it listening to _It will Rain_ by Bruno Mars on repeat.) I kinda put my heart and soul into this chapter, so I really hope you like it (the writing). Next chapter will be up sooner as it's slightly less heart wrecking (that's probably a lie, haha). Well... It will have my usual weirdo humor in it, so that'll be a thing.

Third of all, I fangirled the other day because I realized I had 38 reviews, and that's close to 40, and 40 is close to 50, and 50 is half of a 100. If this fanfic makes it to 50 reviews, I'll probably die, and write whoever wrote the 50th review their own fic. [Totally reminds me that I would love prompts? (PLEASE.)] That was my (weird) way of saying that I totally appreciate everyone in this archive for skimming, reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing my story. It brings smiles to my face literally every time.

Before I forget, as always, thank to wstrnplsr105 for being amazing, supporting me, and reading my chicken scratch. (If you haven't already, please go read her new fic. It's really great, and I adore it so much that it actually hurts?) Oh, we're writing a collab fic that I'm actually pretty excited for, so read that too if you haven't.


	8. Chapter 8

_Charlotte looked beautiful, as per usual, but there was something unreal about the way that she looked straddling his waist, in one of his shirts. She was smiling at him in a way that convinced him that she was his angel. He was laying back on his bed, and she was steadily leaning towards him. Henry felt a blush creep on to his cheeks as she came within inches of his face._

 _"_ _I love you, Hen. I love only you." She whispered to him, peppering his face with gentle kisses. Henry felt himself smile up at her, and his heart fluttered at her words._

 _"_ _Really, you love me? No one else?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, Henry. Who else could there be?" Charlotte said, looking at him like he was stupid. Henry didn't care. He just needed to hear it from her. He pulled her head down to kiss her, but that's when she pushed him away. She jumped off of him with a look of pure horror on her face, and that's when Henry realized that the shirt she was wearing wasn't his. It was someone else's. Henry reached for her hand anyway, just wanting her back next to him. Charlotte recoiled away from him like his touch would burn her. Suddenly, there were tears streaming down her face, and she was screaming at him._

 _"_ _Get away from me! Don't touch me!"_

 _"_ _Char-"_

 _"_ _Stop it! Just stop!"_

 _"_ _But I thought you_ _ **loved**_ _me?"_

 _"_ _I thought you were someone else..."_

Henry jerked straight up on his couch, in his room, where he had fallen asleep. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, sweat was dripping down his back, and his breath was coming out raggedy. Charlotte's screams were ringing in his ears, and her words were playing on repeat in his head.

 _"_ _I thought you were someone else..."_ He put his hands over his face and grunted into them loudly, hoping that the noise would distract him. It didn't. Henry couldn't take it anymore. He searched around the couch, which was littered with empty chocolate and root beer bottles, fudge wrappers, empty chip bags, and various pictures of Charlotte, for his cellphone. He found it underneath a recent picture of him and Charlotte. He cringed when he saw it. It was his favorite picture of the two of them. Henry had pulled her into his lap at some restaurant, and she had wrapped her arms around his neck and was looking at him with a cute shocked expression. He flicked the picture off of the couch with more force than was necessary, and it joined the arsenal of pictures on the floor. Henry scrolled through his music library, looking for a song that wouldn't remind him of Charlotte, but it was no use. _Everything_ reminded him of Charlotte. He ended up putting on some Coldplay because at least, _they_ understood how he felt.

It had been two days since Charlotte had told him that she didn't love him, and Henry was a mess. He had pretty much refused to leave his room, and the only time that he did was to take Piper to and from school and to buy more junk food. (He refused to cook or be anywhere near the kitchen.)

Piper had no clue what had happened, but she knew it was something bad because Henry hadn't argued with her for the past two days. He didn't even flinch when she told him that she was going out with Peter. He just muttered a 'have a good time' before bringing a bottle of chocolate sauce up to his lips. Piper would never, _ever_ admit that she lov-cared about her brother, but she was pretty concerned. Especially when she heard him start to play Coldplay, _in the middle of the day_ , loudly. Piper put her phone down, and she walked over to the guest room from her bedroom. She wasn't sure why Charlotte hadn't shut this down already, but she was _going_ to find out. She ripped open the door to find Charlotte curled around a pillow, tears streaming down her face. Piper stood there in shock when she realized that Charlotte was _crying._ Piper held back a string of curses. Charlotte never cried.

"Charlotte, are you _crying_?" Charlotte seemed startled, and she looked at Piper in shock.

"P-Piper! Psh, _no_. I just had something in my eye." Piper didn't believe that for a second.

"Yeah… _sure._ Why haven't you fixed Henry yet? He's been acting all _weird_ and _depressed_ for the last two days…" Piper watched as Charlotte's expression morphed into one of intense guilt.

"I can't. He doesn't want to talk to me." Piper scoffed.

"What are you talking about? You guys are best friends. He _always_ wants to talk to you."

"You don't understand, Piper. _I_ hurt him. He's not just going to forgive me." Piper glared at Charlotte from her place in the doorway. Her arms crossed across her chest.

"I don't care what you did. You're gonna go fix it. Now."

"I _can't_ , okay?" Charlotte said sharply, meeting Piper's glare with one of her own. Just as Piper was about to open her mouth, Charlotte felt her phone buzz. Her stomach dropped as she saw who the text message was from: Taylor.

 _Oh, go talk to him. Rub salt into the wound._

 _–_ _Taylor_

Taylor was pushing Charlotte to the edge. She could feel her fear and concern start to get obliterated by the flaming, hot, rage that was burning inside of her. She didn't like being played. Charlotte had done exactly what he had said, but he had the _audacity_ to ask her for more. Henry was hurting so much that _Piper_ , who pretty much only cared about herself, was concerned. Charlotte was _done_. She was sick and tired of Taylor's threats. She had been living in fear and living in guilt for the past two days, but she wasn't going to do it now. If Taylor wanted her to talk to Henry, that's _exactly_ what she would do, but definitely not how he wanted her to.

Charlotte threw her phone across the room, causing Piper to jump in her spot in the doorway.

"Dude, what was that for?!" Piper screeched. Charlotte ignored her.

"I'll go talk to Henry." She threw her covers off of her bed and stormed past Piper. She took a deep breath before knocking loudly.

" _Go away_." Henry croaked out. Well, she tried to be polite. She tried the knob, and it was unlocked, typical Hart behavior. She opened the door slowly, and she was bombarded with the strange scent of sugar and salt that can only be caused by junk food. She cringed as she saw Henry laying in the midst of a pile of junk food wrappers and soda bottles.

"I thought that I said to go aw-" Henry sat up straight with a blush creeping on his chest, causing a root beer bottle to crash on the floor all over the pictures of Charlotte. His eyes bulged out of his head in embarrassment, and Charlotte blushed once she saw the pictures of herself on the floor. They stared at each other for a second, but Henry tore his eyes away from her.

"What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be with someone that you _actually_ love?" Henry said, bitterly. Charlotte winced as she walked into his room, closing the door behind her.

"Your room is a mess." Henry scoffed, raising his eyebrows.

" _Why do you think that is?_ " Henry said, sarcastically.

"Because you're a slob?" Charlotte said, trying to crack a joke. The comment seemed to make Henry even madder. He got up off of his couch and stormed down the steps.

"Or _maybe_ because the girl that I'm in love with kissed me and led me on while being in love with someone else." Henry said, his emotions spiraling out of control. She had hurt him in a way that words could never begin to describe, and she thought that she could just waltz in his room and tease him about being a slob?

"Henry, I'm sorry, and I know that's not enough." Charlotte said, and she meant it.

" _Of course it isn't enough!_ I told you that I loved you, and you threw it in my face. _Then_ , you come _waltzing_ in here, like you didn't just _break my heart_." Henry put his hands through his hair so roughly that Charlotte was concerned that he was going to pull it out.

"What do they have that I don't? Why don't you love me?" Henry said, moving closer towards her. Charlotte's heart beat loudly in her chest as he moved closer. He looked terrible in a chocolate stained red shirt, uncombed hair, and a pair of plaid boxers. Yet, all she could think about was his chocolate covered lips on hers. For the first time in her life, she told logic and sense _to go to hell_. She and Henry would figure something out. They would get through this because they were Henry and Charlotte. She moved closer not caring about the consequences, and before she could second guess herself, she let the words fall out of her mouth.

"Nothing. I love you." Henry stared at her incredulously.

" _What?_ "

"I love you. I'm _in_ love with you. I don't want to be friends either. That kiss meant everything to me. In fact, I want you to kiss me right now." Henry's jaw dropped in confusion, and Charlotte moved even closer to him. She pulled him down towards her by his dirty shirt.

"There is no one that I love more than you, and there never will be. No matter what."

Henry stared at her with eyes as big as saucers.

"… What?" Henry said again, but this time his voice was thick with different emotions. Charlotte gripped his shirt tighter, pulling Henry even closer to her. Their eyes met, and time seemed to stand still, even the music in the background stopped. Charlotte's heart pounded frantically in her chest, and the hand holding Henry's shirt shook slightly, but she needed him to hear what she was saying. She was determined for him to _understand_ , even just a little bit.

"I said," She titled her head slightly, bringing her face within centimeters of his own. Charlotte watched with desire pumping through her body as Henry's brown eyes turned into almost inky black, pools of darkness.

"There is _no one_ that I love more than _you_ , Henry, and there never will be. No matter wha-" Charlotte was cut off by Henry crashing his lips against hers. Charlotte's eyes fluttered closed while Henry's hands cupped her face. Charlotte wanted to say that the kiss was sweet, but it wasn't. They were both hurt, broken, and searching for solace in each other. Charlotte wasn't sure if she would ever get to kiss him again, and Henry wasn't sure that this was real. Charlotte sucked at Henry's bottom lip, and he opened his mouth to give her entrance. They kissed each other with so much passion that it made Charlotte dizzy. Henry's tongue moved frantically against hers, and Henry moved his hands away from her face, to hoist her legs around his waist. Charlotte released her grip on his shirt and put her hands through his dirty blonde hair. Neither of them was willing to tolerate a centimeter of space between their bodies.

When they broke apart for air, Charlotte felt like crying. She didn't know how much she had truly missed him until that moment. The physical space between them felt like it hurt, and in that moment, all she cared about was getting closer to Henry. She stared into Henry's lust filled eyes, and she swore that he was thinking the same thing. He walked them over to his bed, but Charlotte felt his body freeze a foot away from his bed. Henry suddenly dropped Charlotte on her feet. He backed away from her quickly with wild eyes. Charlotte's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.

"Hen, what's wro-" Henry pointed an angry, accusing finger in her direction.

"You don't _love_ me! You _lied_ to me. I _cried_ over you for _two days_. I couldn't even sleep on my bed because it still smells like you. You let me _suffer_ for _two days_ for a _lie_. You didn't even check up on me! How can you say that you love me?! How can you even consider yourself my _friend_?" Henry growled out, hurt and pain leaking from his body. Charlotte froze in shock. The words coming out of Henry's mouth felt like acid being thrown at her chest. Tears sprang up in her eyes, and she couldn't even think of anything to say in response.

 _'_ _Cause you really hurt me…_

The words of the song hit them both like a ton of bricks, and Charlotte desperately wished that he had turned it off earlier.

"Coldplay really _does_ understand how I feel." Henry muttered, and Charlotte felt her soul being torn out of her chest, as he put on a mask of indifference.

"I think that it would be best if you left. I agree with what you said two days ago. You coming here was a mistake." Henry said in a monotone voice, and he looked at her in the eyes with no sign of remorse or regret.

"Henry, please don't do this…" Charlotte said, moving closer to him, but he shook his head at her. His demeanor was stone cold, and she knew then that he meant it. He wanted her gone.

"I'll ask Jasper if you can stay at his house for a little while."

"Henr-"

"Goodbye, Charlotte." Charlotte ran out of Henry's room back to the guest room. She started packing up her stuff, but she froze when she saw her phone lying on the floor. She took a deep breath to try to steady herself. After she closed her eyes and took a big breath, she picked up her phone to see that she had one text notification.

 _Tsk. Tsk. Charlotte. You risked it all for nothing, and now, you have to pay the consequences. ;)_

 _-Taylor_

Charlotte didn't know that she was crying until she saw the drops of water on her phone screen.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I know what you're thinking:"... Lizlen, I _hate_ you. Also! You lied to me." Haha, so sorry guys, but also, I'm kinda not sorry? I'm literally sitting here with a half-grin, half-grimace? I've never actually written a song fic before, but the song that goes with this chapter (The Coldplay song that they were listening to) is: **Princess of China ft. Rihanna**. It's kinda old, but it's one of my favorites. This chapter is dedicated to ArdenThayer because: OMG, they are literally the most helpful person like ever. (*digital hugs*) XP I luv you! They helped me write one of the scenes, so this is probably one of my best chapters. (If you're wondering why I say literally all of the time, it's because I'm _literally_ Chris from Parks  & Rec. Except I never go outside because I'm a vampire.) By the way, I know that no one cares, but I survived yesterday, and my team is going to district! Also, feel free to tell me how much you hate Taylor! I love that you hate Taylor. XD Btw, if you've given me a request, I will most likely be doing it. I haven't decided what my next one-shot will be because I have like 7 going right now, but I owe you guys some fluff. So, some time this week probably one will be up.

-Lizlen


	9. Chapter 9

Maybe he was a little strange, a little unique, but Jasper was proud of it. He was proud to be a bucketeer, a rule breaker, and a broth drinker. Most of all, he was proud to be best friends with Charlotte and Henry, and proud to have been able to watch them grow and stand by them through every problem that had come their way. If Jasper believed in anything more than buckets, it would have been their friendship. Maybe he was just a fanciful thinker, but he didn't ever think that the three of them could be broken. He loved Henry and Charlotte more than words could ever express. They were his best friends, and they had loved him despite his many 'flaws.' Henry and Charlotte embraced his quirks while others had scoffed, and for that, he would be eternally grateful. He would break the world for either of them without hesitation, and Jasper knew that they would do the same for him.

As their best friend, Jasper _knew_ them. He had witnessed, first hand, the chemistry, the longing looks, the unsaid words on the tips of their tongues, and the undying love between them. It only got worse as the two grew older, bickering had become flirting, fleeting touches had become lingering, hugs had become cuddles, and the occasional covert glances had become frequent obvious admirations. Despite the hints (from literally _everyone_ ) that came their way, Henry and Charlotte were oblivious and stubborn, refusing to acknowledge that they were anything more than friends. So, Jasper gave them space, hoping that with more interaction, Henry and Charlotte would figure it out on their own. Jasper didn't need to be around Charlotte and Henry constantly to be assured of his place in their lives. He had his own hobbies, passions, and other friends to occupy his time.

So, when he had gotten a curt text from Henry to come pick Charlotte up and another text from Piper that Charlotte was crying, Jasper dropped the leashes of the dogs he was walking to sprint to Henry's house, not even thinking twice about it. Even though his lungs burned, Jasper didn't stop until he was at Henry's door. He ripped it open, zooming through the house, taking the steps two at a time until he was panting in the guest room's doorway. Charlotte looked up from her cellphone with tears in her eyes, and Jasper didn't even get to the chance to ask her what was wrong before she was tumbling into his chest. His arms engulfed around her on instinct. Charlotte clung on to him, her arms gripping his chest like it was the only thing keeping her there. Jasper held her closer to him, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Whatever it is, it's going to be okay. We'll get through it, Charlotte. I promise."

"Not this time." As soon as she had whispered the words into his chest, Charlotte felt herself fully break down. She tried to stop it, to continue to be strong, but she knew that she was beyond her breaking point. The sobs wracked through her body violently, her body shaking in Jasper's arms. Jasper didn't say anything in response; he just rubbed her back soothingly. The two stood like that for a few minutes until Charlotte pulled away, eyes puffy.

"I'm sorry, Jasper that was-" Jasper cut her off quickly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. You know that I'm always here for you and Henry." At the mention of his name, Charlotte forcefully closed her eyes. Jasper winced. This was obviously worse than he thought.

"Let's go." Charlotte instructed, her tone clipped and stern. Jasper nodded, knowing that she would talk about it when she was ready. He walked past her, grabbing the nearest suitcase. Charlotte followed behind him somberly, getting the remaining bags.

"You're going to groan, but you won't believe what I found online."

"What did you find?" Charlotte asked half-heartedly, trying for his sake.

"I found the Tut Bucket on eBay last night."

"The same Tut Bucket you wanted five years ago?"

"Yeah, and guess whose selling it?"

"No, don't tell me-"

"Raydaman25." Charlotte couldn't help but to let out a small giggle, and Jasper sagged in relief.

"Maybe it's not Ray?"

"No, it is. I asked him." Charlotte burst out laughing.

"It gets worse. He still refuses to sell it to me." Charlotte stopped pulling the suitcase to bend over and laugh. The sight brought a smile to Jasper's face. He was worried about her, and the least that he could do to help was to get her to laugh.

After ten minutes of struggling to get her suitcases down the stairs and into the truck of Charlotte's car, Charlotte and Jasper left the Hart's house behind. Jasper tapped his fingers against the dashboard as Charlotte drove, watching Charlotte from the corner of his eye cautiously. She had started to frown again, and Jasper could tell from how she was staring at the road blankly that she was internalizing something.

"Can we make a stop?" Charlotte looked over at him, her eyebrow raised.

"Where to?" Jasper smiled sheepishly.

"The park. I may or may not have lost the dogs that I was walking." Charlotte's lips tugged up into a half-smile.

"May or may not?"

"Okay, so I totally did, but it was for a good cause!" Jasper confessed, and Charlotte groaned slightly.

"You know that the park is in the opposite direction, right?"

"Yes?"

"And you didn't want to say anything. Oh, I don't know, a _mile_ ago?" Charlotte sassed, quickly making a U-turn.

"Well, I forgot."

"Of course you did." Charlotte rolled her eyes, but Jasper knew that she was secretly amused.

"Why are you walking dogs again, anyway?"

"I needed some more cash, so I can try to buy the bucket from Ray anonymously."

"You really want that bucket, don't you?"

"Of course, it's King Tut's bucket. It's the bucket of all buckets. Can you imagine how popular I'll be once I own it?"

"Uhh, just as popular as you are now?" Jasper snorted.

"I'm going to get at least two more followers. _Two_ _whole followers_ , Charlotte." Charlotte grimaced.

"Mhm. Just so you know, you'll be getting those dogs by yourself."

"I know." Charlotte smiled to herself.

"Thanks, for everything, Jasper. I know that I spend a lot of time with H-Henry, and we don't always get to hang out. But you're still important to me." Charlotte confessed quietly, hoping that he would get the unspoken message behind her words.

"I know. When you're ready to talk, I'm here." Jasper squeezed her shoulder gently while giving Charlotte a reassuring smile.

"I know." Charlotte coughed awkwardly as she pulled up to the park.

"Did you want me to meet you at your apartment or to wait here?"

"You can just head over to my apartment." Jasper handed her a set of keys before getting out of the car. Charlotte caught them with ease before waving goodbye and driving off. Jasper sighed as soon as she pulled away, knowing it would take him hours to find those dogs.

Once he finally rounded up the dogs, given them treats, and apologized profusely to their owners, he headed back to Henry's house, knowing that comforting Henry was going to be a lot harder than Charlotte. He passed Piper on his way up the stairs, and she just shook her head.

"I hope you can do better than Charlotte." Jasper's eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

"Charlotte tried to cheer him up? When?"

"Well, she went to go talk to him right before you came. I thought it was to cheer him up, but he seems more upset. Not that I care or anything, I just need him to take me to the movies later." Jasper looked at Piper skeptically, and she turned away, a blush of embarrassment covering her cheeks.

Jasper cringed as he pushed open the door to Henry's room, and he was shocked and a little afraid of what he was seeing. Henry was standing tall, opening and closing his bloody knuckles, and giving Jasper a ferocious glare that rivaled one of Charlotte's.

"Get out, Jasper." Jasper almost listened, but he forced himself to enter into Henry's bedroom.

"Henry, I know you're upset, but-" Henry flexed his jaw angrily.

"But _what_? There's nothing else to say. I don't want to see you or your _lover_ , Charlotte." Jasper's eyebrows furrowed in confusion while Henry's hands clenched at his sides.

"Henry, what are you _talking_ about? I just came here to _help_ you." Henry scoffed, crossing his arms.

" _Help me_? No, you came here to rub your relationship in my face. I should have known she was talking about you. I can't believe that not _one_ but t _wo_ of my friends betrayed me and on the same day too." Jasper blinked.

"How could you do this to me, Jasper? I thought we were best friends. I thought I could _trust_ you." Jasper's temper started to flare. He took a lot from Henry, but he wasn't going to stand for any accusations that he was anything but a great best friend.

"I _am_. You _can_ trust me!"

"Then _why_ were you out there with Charlotte, giggling up a storm?!" Henry yelled, his voice full of pain and anger.

"I was just trying to cheer her up-" Jasper defended himself, not fully understanding why Henry was so angry.

"What about me? You left me here-" Jasper felt his temper flare, and he interrupted Henry before he could continue to spout anymore nonsense.

" _I left you here!?_ Then what am I doing right now? I've been _nothing_ but a good friend to you and so has Charlotte."

"Of course, you run to _her_ side and defend _her_." Henry spat, but Jasper had had enough.

"Why _wouldn't_ I? I'm her best friend, and you're supposed to be too." Henry mouth opened at Jasper's tone; it was chilling, full of icy anger.

"I came here, concerned for _both_ of you guys. But Charlotte was _sobbing_ , Henry. _Sobbing_. When have you ever actually seen Charlotte cry? You and I both know that she's stronger than both of us. She _doesn't_ cry." Henry eyebrows furrowed, and Jasper could tell he had gotten through to him, even just a little bit.

"I don't care. If Charlotte wants to cry, so be it. I cried too, but nobody cares about me." Jasper resisted the urge to punch his best friend since childhood in the face.

"What's _wrong_ with you? How many times has Charlotte helped you, and the one time that Charlotte might have a _real_ problem and needs attention, _you don't care?_ How self-centered can you be?"

"I'm _not_ being self-centered. She _hurt_ me, Jasper." Henry choked out, hot tears streaming down his face.

" _And you know what?_ So did you." Jasper recoiled.

"What could she have possibly done to make you doubt her? And what do _I_ have to do with _any_ of this? I haven't seen either of you in almost _four day_ s."

"She _lie-lied_ to me." Henry's voice was raspy, but Jasper was too angry and confused to attempt to comfort him.

"What are you talking about?" Henry shut his eyes forcefully before answering.

"She told me she didn't love me, that she loved somebody else. To tell me that she loved me two days later." Suddenly, it all made sense to Jasper, and he was washed over by a storm of hurt and fury.

" _And you thought that was me?!_ That _I_ would do that to you." Henry wiped his eyes violently before turning towards Jasper.

"Well, who _else_ could it be?!"

"Oh, _I don't know_ , somebody who _doesn't_ know how much you care about her, who _hasn't_ sat back watching you two fall in love?!" Henry ignored him.

"She doesn't love me."

" _Shut up_ , just shut the _hell_ up."

"I don't know what happened to you, but you need to open your eyes, Henry. Charlotte loves you. I don't know why she would tell you she didn't, but it probably has something to do with why she's crying. Even if she didn't, you're still her best friend, you're supposed to be looking out for her, not kicking her out of your house in _tears_."

"But she lied to me!"

" _Who cares?_ You lied to me for _over a year_. You lied to Charlotte for _weeks_. She lies to you for _two days_ , and you freak out? Come on, Henry." Jasper roared. Henry frowned, not expecting his best friend to be this angry.

"That's completely different. I did it because I _had_ to."

"Who says that she's not doing it because she has to? Did you ask _why_ she lied? No, you kicked her out."

"She didn't try to explain herself!"

"And you didn't ask, did you?"

"…No."

"Maybe that's why she didn't tell you, because you didn't _ask_." Henry opened and closed his mouth, not really sure what to say.

"Think about what I said." Jasper instructed before walking out and slamming the door behind him.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Alright, before I forget, this is part one of two parts, and the second part will go up some time today. Not sure when, but the second part will be up today. Anyway, so this story is relatively coming to a close. I finally fixed the plot holes in my (diabolical) plan, so I will be working on finishing this story over the next week. Hopefully, it will be done before Space Invaders Part One. There are about six chapters left for a total of fifteen chapters, and there will be no sequel. This was originally a one or two shot, and I kinda just turned it into some dramatic plot-filled thing which I've had a lot of fun with, but my writing style has changed a little. I don't want to overstretch it, but I like to think I've gotten at least a little better then when I started this story. (That's thanks to a lot of people such as StarFire, ArdenThayer, wstrnplsr105, Alore, and many others for forcing me to be better!) Not to say that I'm leaving or anything! I just have some other really cool ideas that I want to work on that require time and research, so I'm just going to finish this up. The ending won't be rushed, so don't worry about it. (I've spent days working it out with people to make sure that it at least makes sense and is conclusive.)

Speaking of, this chapter is dedicated to my best friend, Lastelle21 who puts up with my own quirks and my crazy. Thanks for always being there for me and reading my fanfics even though I know you don't care about the ship. ;) So, I finally brought Jasper back in, and _honestly_? I missed him. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this chapter. [Songs for this chapter: _Lean On Me_ by Bill Withers, _Count on me_ by Bruno Mars, and _Gives You Hell_ by the All American Rejects (I was a little mad.)] I spent like days on it, just trying to fix it, make it _readable,_ etc. A lot of my anger at Henry has been "subtly" coming out, and this chapter is no exception... Nonetheless, I hoped that you guys liked it! It probably wasn't what you were hoping for, but that's because I had to break the chapter down into two parts for it to flow logically.

Super sorry for the extra long author's note, but I had to force all of that information into this. _Also?_ I'm _very_ sorry that this hasn't been updated in like a month? I got really distracted, sorry, but thank you for all of the follows, favs, and reviews. I adore reading them. They make my day, hour, minute, lol. (I _died_ reading your review, silentlittleworld XD)


	10. Author's Note: (NOT A CHAPTER)

I don't know how to say this. I've tried a bunch of times, but I'm going to be frank: I'm terrible at balancing things in my life. I can't. I have a one-track mind. When I get passionate about something, I tend to overdo it. I've started to overdo writing fanfiction, and it's starting to interfere with the rest of my life. (Turns out, I _do_ have one.) Writing has started to feel like a necessity, something I _have_ to do, not something that I _want_ to do. I have other hobbies and school to focus on, so I'm just going to take a break. I like to write, but I'm currently frustrated with my writing and (some of) the characters on this show. I won't be gone too long (maybe a week and half at most), and I'll upload some things that I've worked on as I wrote the rest of Chapter 9/10. (I haven't finished tweaking it yet. Angst takes me longer to write for some reason, and I get distracted easily.)

Basically all of that is my way of saying: Season Three is killing me, school needs (more of) my attention, and I need to start going ( _go back_ ) to the gym instead of writing on my computer in my house like 24/7.

(Sorry about earlier A/N, uploading the wrong one.)

-Lizlen


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